The Mafia Queen (IC)

[Nagakawa]

Rep. Joseph Langley

Thus far, Representative Langley had remained silent, taking quiet and measured sips from his cocktail while listening in to what the others gathered in the bar that night had had to say.

Several years ago, he would not have even bothered to open the email inviting him to this clandestine gathering of freedom fighters looking to take down the United Mafia and its empress. It was a risky endeavour no matter how one sliced it, and back in the day, Langley had had more than enough fun as it was, brawling with Mafia stooges and plants in the hallowed halls of Congress and other things like that.

Only recently, however, it seemed that the Mafia had been out to get him. Two of his close associates in the Senate had been killed in a mysterious car crash. Not to mention that one other incident...

"Well, it certainly seems like we've got a good gig going on here", said Langley in his curious Londoner cockney, once Kevin had finished speaking. He downed the remnants of his Applejack Rabbit and slid the emptied glass back to the bartender. "I, uh, don't think I could do the dirty work for you people, but I've got people in high places under my thumbs, is what I'd say."

He lit a cigarette and brought it to his lips, sucking the smoke in thoughtfully and exhaling in a dragonesque manner. A beep came from his phone in his pocket. The representative checked the one message he received with an almost sadistic half smile.

"Incidentally", he added, following up on Lorelei and Kevin's conversations about breaking into military installations, "if you require the schematics for any military bases, I have a contact in the Pentagon."

The congressman thumbed through his phone's contacts and opened one of them, sliding it gingerly across the table to show the others.

"This is Lieutenant General John Alastair" he explained. There was no picture, just a phone number. "Save his number. If you need access to any US Army base inside the United States, give him a call and tell him you're with Joe Langley."

...

[Infected Mushroom]

Tom Gabriels

Tom was really enjoying the meeting now. Already, the members were contributing.

He nodded at Kevin as the USB was passed; Tom had no doubt the Vault's security was going to be very top-notch; if they wanted to enlist Lorelei's hacking, they could benefit from every ounce of additional resourcefulness.

Later on, when Rep. Joe Langley brought up an important contact, Tom took hold of the phone and noted down the necessary information using his laptop.

"I'll be sure to get a hold of this one. Thank you," Tom replied, looking at Joseph. "Don't worry Mr. Langley... Although I know you can more than hold your own in a street fight, your forte is definitely in the halls of power. The time may come when we need you in the front lines but for now... we need those government contacts. We need someone in the Congress and you're that guy. You're one of most powerful cards in your own way."

"Make sure you stay elected," Antihero said, inserting a somewhat bad quip. Shiroi cleared her throat.

"How are things in Congress these days?" Tom inquired further. "To be perfectly frank, we need more kick ass politicians like you."

Tom's time in the CIA had not endeared him to the ways of the American government. Nevertheless, they needed all sorts of connections to prevail in this war. If Lorelei opened the door to lots of underground and resistance elements, Joseph Langley opened another one linking them to elements in the elected halls of power and the government bureaucracy.

Tom had a great deal of respect for Langley because he was one of the few honest politicians, one of the rare kind who actually put themselves at risk for the good of the people.

[North Timeria]

Zack was a bit flustered and hesitant as Tom spoke. There weren't many people around them but he felt as if Tom had every good intention for this team. While he didn't know if they could pull it off Zack would commit to the team. If there was a chance of them succeeding and Tom saw it, he would simply have to put his trust in Tom's decision making. Tom was right if there was a chance to really fight back and Zack just sat there after being asked to help he would never be able to live with himself. Maybe there were others like him before that rejected the call and contributed to the current situation and Zach refused to be one of these people.

"Well alright then if you see an opportunity let's get to it... Hopefully, this works out in our favor and we all don't end up dead."

Everyone seemed to be formulating early plans for the start of this journey. If they were to take on the Mafia the time was now and they would have to work with urgency. He listened to Lorelei speak as she explained the situation in the Mafia. If there was a power vacuum then that would need to be filled expeditiously or this could lead to problems in the future.

"Well, Lorelei if there a power vacuum what if we fill it with an ally to us? I know it'll be dangerous but if we could have someone fill that spot it could be vital to our operation... right?" Zach was a bit unsure, he didn't know exactly how the Mafia hired people but it seemed like a better option than having them back at full strength.

"Or we could just leave the spot vacant... Make it hard for them to really resolve the problem."


Zack overheard Tom and Joe talking, which gave him a boost of confidence. It felt better to have someone not too far from Zack being involved and putting their trust in Tom. Zack didn't really know much about Joe but being an honest politician and representing California made him feel more trusting. As Zack worked with the group he thought about his project... his battle suit and if it'd be any use to the team. It was far from ready but maybe with the help of a few people here, he could make it work.

[Infected Mushroom]

Tom Gabriels

"I'm glad to have you onboard Zack," Tom replied warmly.

He was very intrigued by Zack's idea to fill the Mafia vacancies. "I have ears on the ground," Tom replied. "I'll be on the lookout for any chances to make plays there. However, the Queen is likely to fill those positions up with loyalists fairly quickly. As of now, I'm afraid we're rather limited in terms of mob insiders. However, we'll see..."

It was time to bring up another item.

"I've got something else..."

Tom stepped back and walked behind the counter. When he returned, he had with him a stack of documents which he began to pass out to the members.

When the members looked at the document, it was a list of Mafia members, apparently low level thugs scattered all over New York.

"These are all low level enforcers but they are particularly vicious and active," Tom said. "They are vicious wolves, currently scattered across the city. If you see them, be careful. If any of them get on your case, please let me know."

"Hey Tom," Antihero said. "Can we bump off a few of these try-hards in our spare time?"

"Best clear it with me first," Tom said. "But... YES... just be very careful and discrete. Antihero... don't be too eager. Remember, we do want to keep a low profile."

Tom was a bit concerned because he knew his friend Antihero well... he had a tendency to get too violent and rash sometimes.

"Which reminds me..." Tom said. "Our friend Antihero and I have put together a large number of hideouts scattered about here in New York City and elsewhere. If you guys all turn to the back of your papers, you'll see a list of a FEW of those hideouts and how to get inside them. Inside you'll find lodging, some supplies, and basic amenities. Use these places if you need to or get placed under some heat. It goes without saying, that once you're out of this place, store this information very VERY carefully; preferably you'd memorise it and then destroy."

"So what do we do now?" Shiroi asked.

"We'll need a few days to scout out The Vault and its security," Tom said. "Shiroi, George and I will check it out in advance and keep everyone posted. We'll probably take Lorelei along to see if we can get any hacking done. In the meantime, everyone else should prepare their weapons and get trained up. You can use the hideouts if you get into trouble; stay in touch with me. If you want to go after anyone on this list, best to let me know first."

He turned to Joseph to confirm: "Joseph, it's up to you if you're coming to The Vault or not. We need you in Congress so it may be best if you stay behind the scenes for now. Your call."

"I think we're going to need more drinks," Shiroi said, walking off to get more refills for everyone.

After taking another set of orders, the drinks were refilled. Tom got himself some coffee. The discussion was in full motion and the group was getting increasingly excited about raiding The Vault.

[Infected Mushroom]

The meeting went late into the night. Under the orange indoor lights, the Old Finn seemed to gain a warm, comfortable glow.

It was decided that the ask force would become known as the Antihero Force for the time being... until they could come up with a better name (since the name "Antihero" already had some currency on the streets). The members introduced themselves to each other and everyone traded some stories, though some were more reserved and others more outspoken.

It was decided that they would wait around one week before actually attacking The Vault. Tom and a few others would scout out The Vault first (tentatively it was decided that Tom, Shiroi, George, and Lorelei would go). In preparation for it, the other members were expected to train and prepare; some would go after minor members of the United Mafia but nothing too huge.

For now, Representative Joseph Langley was too important to risk on the front line; though he could fight, he was the team's main lifeline to the halls of Congress. For now it was decided that he would work some contacts and follow a few other leads his way and forego the direct combat in The Vault. However, Joe may change his mind later if he wished. As others have pointed out, it may hinge on what Tom's scouting mission revealed and whether or not they may need an extra man.

Antihero explained how some of the hideouts that he had prepared throughout the city of New York worked and how to access them. He told the members not to hesitate using them should any need arise. For now, most of the members here were off the radar (with some notable exceptions, case in point Kevin, George Hamilton, Antihero himself, possibly Shiroi).

"Wait so then how do you pay for all this?" Paul Lacrosse ventured to ask.

"That is fantastic question," Antihero replied. "I do have access to quite a bit of money from my family. The other part I confiscated from the gangs from time to time."

"I... see..." Paul replied.

Later on, Tom pulled out a large, vigorously marked map of New York City and the heroes began to trade intel and information regarding various parts of the large city. The information regarding the United Mafia's structure was limited but it was all too clear that literally close to all of the important streets were in some way run by some of the Queen's associates; the city had been carved up and redistributed more aggressively than the European powers did to the continent of Africa at the Berlin Conference. It was a saddening state of affairs that the members eventually hoped to change.

Finally, the members of the Antihero Force raised their glasses and toasted off. They were about to start a war with a sleeping giant, and they needed all the help and good fortune they could get.

Afterwards, the members went about their separate ways and headed home.

Tom Gabriels left the meeting with a warm glow; their first meeting had been more successful than he expected.

---

Tom Gabriels

Tom was the very last to leave the meeting; long after he sent everyone else home.

He spent a good deal of time cleaning things up at The Old Finn. Others may consider this kind of thing joyless but Tom enjoyed restoring things to Order; there was a kind of a simple pleasure in that sort of thing.

He had plans to return to this place in the morning tomorrow (for a SECOND round), to do a even more throughout clean up of the place with chemicals and the whole gig. Not just with respect to the piles of drinks, but also to erase as much evidence forensically as possible. It was unlikely but in the very off chance that some gang member or homeless person raided this establishment, he didn't want to leave any loose ends. Besides... things SHOULD be cleaned up anyways and Tom had plenty of experience doing that sort of thing.

It was very late when Tom Gabriels drove his black Toyota back home. This wasn't the only vehicle he drove that night. Along the way, he stopped by one of the hideouts throughout the city and switched to a different vehicle. From there, he switched to his "normal car," a dark grey Mercedes Benz.

Certain neighbourhoods of New York City were well alive even this late into the night; it was truly a city that never slept. At a red light, Tom pulled out his phone and texted: "Be back in 15. Busy Day. Love."

It was a while before Tom's vehicle returned to the residence.

---

The Concerto, Block 2, Flat 12C
Mueller Family Residence
White Stone, Queens
New York City

"Good evening sir," the concierge said as Tom walked up. "Busy day Mr. Mueller?"

"Yes Tony... work was murder. But it's been a good day... productive and everything. Good evening."

Thomas Christian Gabriels/Tom was an alias. One of many. At home, he was Jonathan Mueller, the owner of a well-to-do mid-sized construction supplier the Dursley-Lintz Group. He was an orphan, went to Princeton, and then later married Anna-Sophia Lintz. They have one daughter, 7-year-old Mindy; she went to a decent school on the Brooklyn side.

The apartment was expensive but on his wife's side there was quite a bit of money. Also, in recent days, Dursley-Lintz was expanding, taking full advantage of its reputation for quality and reliability. He had capitalised on the construction surge with the new bridge on the Staten side and the mayor's plans to upgrade the southwest Brooklyn side.

Jonathan Mueller was not the first, nor will it be his last alias he suspected but it was one of the most important aliases. In fact, he was officially killed-in-action with the CIA. On paper though, Jonathan Mueller had always existed as a continuous entity.

Tom unlocked the door and stepped inside his neat spacious apartment. He had barely walked a few steps into the kitchen when he saw his blonde-haired wife.

"I am... BACK!" Tom declared jovially and extending his arms. "It's been a GLORIOUS day. I'll tell you all about it. A lot of good things have happened."

"Well SOMEBODY is in a good mood, I was wondering where you-" Anna said but Tom had already walked up to her. Chuckling mischievously, he grabbed his wife and placed her on top of the counter close to the sink. Anna's expression softened as she met her husband's intense steely gaze.

While Molly was still asleep, the Mueller parents were very busy in the kitchen area...

---

A day later, Tom did some extra communications from his laptop. A new member was added to the Antihero Force: Teresa "Braincracker" Ingleby.

Olympic level martial arts, some interesting abilities, past and present ties to the resistance... but equally important she had the reasons and the drive to oppose the United Mafia. An unwavering sense of justice, a desire to do the right thing, the courage and tenacity to go with it..

Teresa had just run put a mob member into the hospital and gotten into a bit of trouble... it was necessary that Tom's group help her. They were all in this together. They needed all the allies they could get.

Yes I think she will contribute great value to this task force...

After a few meetings, Ingleby checked out and was added to the task force.

[Nagakawa]

The meeting in the Old Finn had ended far sooner than expected- Rep Langley did not expect a consensus on the matters at hand to be reached so quickly. Then again, this wasn't Congress- people knew how to compromise, especially with a common enemy looming ominously on the ever-approaching horizon, one that had already been slowly tightening its chokehold for years.

His body and mind now fresh again, Rep Langley stepped out of the bar and breathed in the cool night air. There was not a person in sight, save for those whom he had just met earlier. A feeling of lightness overcame him, as he looked up at the dark, starless sky.

The sound of beeping came from his pocket. A call was incoming.

"Yes, Dr Carter, I'm done. Yes, I will be back in D.C. shortly. See you in a bit."

And with that, the congressman hung up and, hailing a taxi, disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

---

A short while later...

---

Washington D.C.

'The Queen B!tch'
10:45PM

In an old building along 7th Street NW, just a short distance away from the Capitol, was a small, neon-lit bar called The Queen B!tch. Owing to its small size and seclusion, there were usually few patrons, but the ones who did turn up, such as the little entourage of one particular congressman, tended to visit very regularly.

"Ayy, hello friends", said the bar's lone waitress, a tomboyish and sprightly young lady with cheeky blue eyes and a sleek bubblegum pink bob, leaning on the booth table that the three sat at every time and swishing her bangs out of her eyes. "The usual stuff for tonight?"

"Yep, just the usual for me", said the first of the trio, a large silver-haired black man in his fifties, wearing a casual shirt and trousers with his tie hastily undone. "Red wine."

"Alrighty, that's one red wine for Erwin, as usual... Actually, do you wanna try this new stuff we've got? 2002 Anjou-Villages Brissac AOC. The boss went out of his way to get his hands on it. He says the first glass will be on the house, just for you."

"Sure. Thanks, Ash."

"Hey Ash", said the second, a young Asian lady in a T-shirt and sweatpants with her hair in a haphazard ponytail, "give me a ginger beer."

"Feeling like a lightweight today, are we, Leonie?"

"Shut up."

"Hey Ash, uh..." The third, a young, bespectacled, golden-haired boy in a tailored pinstripe suit, sheepishly raised his hand, as if to try to catch the attention that Ash was already showing him. "I'd like, uh..."

"A cocktail, as usual?"

"Yea. A... uh..."

"A what?"

"I'd like a Singapore Sling, but with grapefruit juice instead of lime juice. Oh, and with Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau. Add an extra teaspoon of it, too. Oh, and add a wedge of lime on top of it too, if that's okay. And, er, you can skip the Bénédictine. I'm not in the mood for that today."

"Anything for you, my dear Jesse", said Ash, puckering her lips playfully. "Any snacks?"

"Just some edamame", said Erwin Carter, the doctor. "That will be all."

"Alrighty. Be right back."

With Ash the waitress disappearing off to get the orders, the trio got down to business.

"Okay", said Dr Carter, reaching into his briefcase and taking out a stack of papers held together with a small red paperclip that seemed to be struggling to hold everything together. "Joseph won't be back in D.C. until tomorrow morning, but he gave us the green light to get on with the planning. We've been thinking about getting this done for a while now. Now is a good time to strike. So just to recap everything..."

He fished out one of the papers- a dossier for a person.

"This man here is Seong Jun", Dr Carter explained. "He's a plastic surgeon who sometimes goes by the name of Dr Lucius Seong. 38 years old. He performed a rhinoplasty on South Korean President Hwang Wi-seung two months ago, following which he flew to the US, and disappeared. He was last seen at Los Angeles International Airport, where he walked to a taxi accompanied by this man here. Alberto Milano, a United Mafia extortionist."

"Yep, yep", said Leonie, shaking her feet and resting her chin in her hand. "Usual stuff. Nothing we haven't done before."

"Now, we know that the Korean President has made lots of money off of the United Mafia's East Asian operations. Seong Jun is most likely also in on it. But the interesting thing is that over here in the States, we have Leonard Yeager, who has been nominated to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, who is a close friend of Seong Jun. Word has it Seong Jun does facelifts for him on a regular basis. More likely than not, that means Yeager's tied to the Mafia, too.

"So here's Joe's plan. The Senate will all but certainly overwhelmingly vote to confirm Yeager. What we need to do is get people to kick up enough of a storm. Tie the man to the Mafia openly. It doesn't matter if the Mafia rams him through, so long as his image is marked. For that, we're gonna find Seong Jun, who is, according to Joe's sources, somewhere in D.C."

"Alrighty." Ash, the waitress, had returned. "One bowl of edamame for each of you three. One Singapore Sling for Mister McBride. One red wine for Dr Carter. And one ginger beer for Lightweight Leonie."

"Shut up, Ash."

"So when is Joe gonna be back?" Ash sat down in the booth seat beside Jesse and crossed her legs, taking up the space that was usually occupied by Rep Langley. Jesse, turning red in the face and struggling to avoid eye contact with Ash, shifted a little further in. "How long did he say he was gonna spend in New York?"

"Less than a day, actually", said Leonie. "He should be home by tomorrow morning."

"That's good to hear", said Ash, winking playfully. "When he gets back, tell him that the Queen B!tch has a surprise for him."

"A... surprise?"

"Oh, he'll know it when he sees it", the waitress replied coyly. "Manipulating Congress against the Mafia is no easy task. Refreshments are always good, y'know."

"Damn, this is good stuff", said Dr Carter, sniffing from his glass.

"So the Boss and I got him a present", Ash continued. "A little token of appreciation from the Queen B!tch."

The TV droned on in the background- it was the usual newsreel, talking about whatever it was that was happening as of late. Strangely enough, nothing of note had taken place, at least not anything the media deemed fit for reporting.

"CNN, Fox News, NBC... they're all the same", said Leonie, sighing. "Can't get anything done without, well, you know."

"Uh..."

Here, Ash's expression became dark, and her eyes darted furtively from side to side, as if eyeing the surroundings of the bar. Aside from the trio, there was hardly anyone else; there was the bartender, a small-built bald Asian man in a tuxedo, as well as one other regular customer, a lanky middle-aged black lady with a big afro, seemingly asleep on the counter. The Boss, as usual, wasn't around- he usually hid himself away in his office, and only came out into the bar on the rare occasion that the crowds got too big for Ash to handle by herself.

"Since it's only Bev and Hide in today, I'll let you in on something", she said in a hushed voice. "There's this guy who's been coming, usually a little bit after you guys leave. Tall, handsome guy, always wearing a suit. I don't know if he's using his real name for his tab, either."

"You think he might be a Mafia fella?"

"I have my suspicions", said Ash.

The sound of chimes broke the monotony of the smooth lo-fi jazz that had been droning on endlessly in the background of the bar. An old grandfather clock standing in the corner rang out mournfully, signalling that it was now 11:00PM. A gust of cold air from the outside briefly made its way through the bar, as a tall, olive-skinned man in a pinstripe suit and a fedora entered the room, his deep-set eyes piercing through the smoky halogenic interior of the bar. With his entrance, Ash shot to her feet in an instant and quickly strode over to him, away from the trio, all of whom averted their gaze from the man who had just come in.

"Welcome, Mr Fontana", they could hear Ash greeting the man, who didn't utter a word, instead just nodding quietly. "Counter seat, as usual?"

In a mere instant, Leonie had whipped out her phone and snapped a quick picture of the man, so fast that even Jesse and Dr Carter did not notice. With that, she opened the encrypted messaging app that Rep Langley had gotten them to download, and quickly sent the picture to their group chat.

Hey Joe, she typed. This guy look familiar to you?

A bit of silence on the other end. And then a reply.

Keep an eye on him. I know this bastard.

Leonie’s eyes darted furtively round the neon-lit bar, scanning the interior for other people.

“Keep your voices down and watch him”, she said to Jesse and Erwin, both of whom leaned back in the booth seats and struck relaxed poses, resting their heads in their crossed arms behind them, their eyes shifting to watch the man who’d come in.

He was a handsome man, with features like that of a movie star and a dress sense not at all unlike one. In the orange neon lights of the Queen B!tch, his tanned skin took on an almost hellish tint, as he took a seat at the bar counter and folded his trench coat, putting it neatly on the empty counter seat beside him, before leaning forward on the table and crossing his legs suavely, looking at Ash the waitress and at Hide the bartender.

“I would like to have an El Diablo.” The man’s accent was smooth, yet forced- almost as if he was faking it.

The bartender nodded in silence and set about preparing the components for the cocktail. As the man in the suit swiveled around to face the inside of the bar counter, Ash looked down at the trio and raised her finger to her neck, surreptitiously drawing a line across.

Leonie nodded back.

“Permit me to ask you two a few questions.”

“Um, yes?”

“The man sounds only 90% human”, Erwin muttered under his breath, taking a measured from his wineglass. “Hmm. Very nice wine. Full bodied, smooth... no tannins.”

“What is the nature of things in this neighbourhood?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking, is this a quiet neighbourhood or a noisy neighbourhood.” The man in the suit grinned a wide smile, but it did not reach his eyes, which stared unblinkingly at Ash’s own. “Are there many crimes that happen in this neighbourhood?”

“Not really”, Ash replied, in as natural a manner as she was able to do so, considering the man’s unsettlingly stiff demeanour.

“Very good.” The man continued smiling, raising a thumbs up in a robotic manner.

The bartender finished making the cocktail, which he promptly handed to the man.

“Thank you, Hide Tanigaki”, the man mechanically thanked the bartender, reading off of his name tag and pronouncing 'Hide' as the English word hide. “And thank you too, Ashley Truman”, he thanked the waitress, in the same robotic manner, conspicuously reading off of her name tag too.

“Something is up with this guy”, Jesse hissed under his breath to Leonie and Erwin, stirring his Singapore Sling vigorously with the paper umbrella and then taking an incongruously careful sip. “He talks like a robot. What’s with that?”

“Maybe English isn’t his first language?” Leonie suggested.

“Doesn’t seem like it”, Erwin added, still keeping the man in his peripheral vision. While they spoke, Ash had headed over to the corner of the bar where the phone plugged into the sound system was, increasing the volume by a few degrees. She looked in the direction of the trio and winked approvingly. “That doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t understand slang. It’s more like he’s trying to pretend... to be someone he isn’t.”

The lanky black lady sitting at the counter stirred a bit and mumbled something under her breath. She looked up at the man in the suit sitting two seats down from her- he flashed her the same mechanical smile he had given to Ash and Hide just moments earlier.

The cigarette she’d been holding had burned right through to the filter.

“I’m going home”, she said, taking her purse and stumbling to the exit. “Tomorrow, homies.”

“Goodbye, Bev”, said Ash.

“Goodbye”, said the bartender quietly.

“Goodb-“

Leonie did not get to finish the word, for at that moment, the man in the suit had gotten out of his seat and floated over to the booth seat at which the trio was seated, almost like a phantom, his drink still in hand.

“Is it okay with the three of you if I sit with you?”

“Sure, I guess.”

At the same moment that the man in the suit sat in the empty space beside Jesse, much to the latter’s perturbation, Leonie and Erwin both checked their phones. Joe had been typing for the past half a minute- it seemed like he had something rather important to say.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” The man, again, smiled and looked at each of the three, one by one. “My name is... Peter Fontana. I presume you three are regular patrons of this here establishment?”

That man’s name is Paulos Fontana. I saw him in Congress, some time last year. He was speaking to Sen Maj Leader Mark Couture in his office.

“That’s right”, said Erwin suspiciously and reservedly. He took another sip from his wineglass and set it down, looking squarely at Fontana. “Pleasure to meet you... Peter.”

I’m 100% certain Couture is a Mafia plant. This man is most likely with the Mafia too.

Leonie glanced at Erwin, who shook his head darkly.

“So what do you people do for a living, and how do you know each other?” Fontana asked the trio.

“Oh, we’re just PR managers”, said Jesse. He gestured at Erwin. “This guy is our supervisor.”

“I see.” Fontana held his cocktail to his mouth, but did not drink, instead bringing the glass back down and putting it on an empty coaster.

Try to suss a bit of information out from him if you can, but be careful not to reveal anything either.

“We work at the Barnes and Noble D.C. headquarters”, Jesse prattled on, clearly perfectly comfortable spinning a false alibi entirely out of thin air. “Lately there’s not been much business, so the sales department people are all in for a hanging, you know. But we’ve got to work round the clock as usual. There’s always stuff happening, even when there’s nothing happening.”

“Hi, sorry Ash. Could I have another glass of that stuff?” Erwin raised his hand and spoke over Jesse’s rambling. “Put it on my tab.”

“Coming right up!”

“Very fascinating lives you people appear to be leading”, said Fontana in a manner suggesting that he was trying to express interest somehow, before then slowly standing up. The whole time, Erwin had noted, the man did not once blink- nor, for that matter, did he stop smiling.

Leonie and Jesse both looked up at him.

“I shall be taking my leave”, he said. “I hope to be able to speak to you and get to know you all better in the near future.”

And with that, the man had vacated the bar, leaving behind his cocktail which he had left untouched.

...

11:47PM

"So anyway, that's the plan."

With the suited man's interruption, the meeting between the trio had gone a lot slower than expected, and by the time all the details had been finalised, the trio were visibly and palpably exhausted.

"Hey, you guys good?" The bartender had quietly packed his things and clocked out about half an hour ago, leaving Ash alone in the Queen B!tch to keep things open until the trio left. Already, she had turned off most of the lights, leaving only a single fluorescent ceiling light and the neon tube sign that kept the one remaining occupied booth illuminated. As she took a seat with the trio again, the fiery red light rendered her bubblegum pink hair a rather odd shade of magenta. "That guy's been coming here every day for the past week or so. Y'all usually don't see him because you come earlier, "

"Who is he, really?" Leonie brushed her hair out of her eyes and downed the remnants of the ginger ale in her pint glass. By now, it had gone flat. "Joe's seen him before, in Congress. He says he might be Mafia."

"That's what I suspected too, but I can't tell what it is he's up to", said Ash, scratching her head and crossing her legs. "He comes in every day, orders an El Diablo, sits around and talks to a bunch of other customers, if there are any... and then he just gets up and leaves without drinking the cocktail."

"Hmm." Erwin scowled.

"Are you gonna be safe?" Jesse asked nervously. "I mean... you're like, spying on him and talking smack about him behind his back."

"I like to think my black belt in judo is worth something", Ash replied Jesse coyly, adding a coquettish wink as if to tease him. "Joe thinks I'm pretty good, if that means anything to y'all."

"Um-ah, I mean- yea, er, that's like, uh, kinda, uh, what I was thinking, if you realised, yeah", Jesse blurted out, hastily turning his gaze elsewhere.

"Jesus Christ, Jesse. It's like you're doing it on purpose", said Leonie, rolling her eyes.

"Doing what?" Jesse leaned on the table and cleared his throat loudly.

"Jesse, just so you know, I'm turning 33 this year." Ash added. "I know I look nice and young, but we have an almost ten year gap between us."

"Okay, I think we've spent enough time here." Erwin checked his watch in a purposefully conspicuous manner. "We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow. I think we'd all like to get a bit of sleep, not to mention Ash needs to close shop too. So."

"Yea", said Jesse, suddenly yawning. "Jeez, it's late. Let's get going."

"Remember your assignments, everyone", said Leonie, standing up and manoeuvring past Erwin out of the booth's inner half. "Tomorrow, we'll meet back here in the Queen B!tch at 9:00PM. An hour and forty five earlier than today. Joe will be with us tomorrow, so on the off chance our friend Fontana comes early, we'll leave it to him. Our two main focuses for this week will be gathering information on Leonard Yeager and finding Seong Jun and taking him in for interrogation."

"And that one other thing", said Erwin.

"Yea", said Leonie. "Don't worry, Ash, we'll keep you in the loop. Joe's bringing a new guy along to help out. Something big's coming up, from what I gather, but for now, all we need to know is that we've got this new guy called Zach coming along to help us out."

"Alrighty. New customers are always good."

"Yes", said Leonie, straightening out her T-shirt and stretching her limbs. "That's it for tonight, ladies. Get a good rest."

"Alrighty guys. See y'all tomorrow."

...

12:03AM

Standing across the road from the Queen B!tch was a dark figure in a long winter jacket and a fedora. The faint embers of a lit cigar pierced the blackness between the evenly-spaced conical lights of the street lamps, as the figure quietly watched the door of the bar, conveniently illuminated by one of the street lamps on the other side.

Out the bar came Ash, herself in a winter jacket draped over her work uniform, the only visible feature from across the street being her pink bob. Without pausing, she made her way down the street, in a hurry to get back home and crash for the night.

That signified the Queen B!tch's closing hours.

"Ok Gabbie", said the dark figure to someone, over the phone. "I've got things on my end sorted out.

"Tomorrow at 10:30PM is when we'll move in. Make sure you and Alberto have got the katanas ready."

...

[North Timeria]

Zach had decided to catch an early morning flight from New York to D.C. After the meeting, Zach felt so on edge like he was being followed at every stop. How would he ever live a regular life after this? For a split moment he began to regret his decision as he thought about being hunted down by the Mafia… Worse being captured alive.

As he checked onto the plane he sent a brief text to Langley that he was on his way without too many details. Zach had bought a brand new phone and distanced himself from the internet. The last thing he wanted was someone to get access to his personal information.

Once in D.C., he headed to his hotel immediately on an airport shuttle. The hotel was right by the Potomac and was located in a high-traffic area. The last thing Zach wanted to happen was getting trapped by the Mafia in some hotel in the middle of nowhere. As he settled in he laid down for a while. He still hadn’t adjusted to the time on the east coast and needed a minute to recuperate.

A little later in the afternoon, Zach made a call to Langley.

“Hey Representative Langley, it’s Zach. Just wanted to let you know I made it safely and I’m ready if you need help with anything. If you want we can talk in person?”

[Nagakawa]

Washington D.C.

The White House
Oval Office
10:00AM

Gathered in the Oval Office, in this particular term decked out in navy blue carpets and drapes frilled with silver linings, were the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Five middle-aged to elderly people stuck inside the Oval Office, none of them speaking to each other- a rather bizarre sight, the more one thought about it.

At the outer end of the Resolute Desk stood Rep. Joseph Langley, the Democratic representative for California’s 39th Congressional District, leaning against the desk and tapping his finger impatiently. He had just completed a long-haul trip back to D.C. from New York, and having been unable to get a wink of sleep, he was visibly annoyed, even to his colleagues sitting in the couches.

His phone began buzzing.

“Hello, Zach”, Rep Langley rasped into his phone, purposely choosing a spot out of earshot of the others in the room, having picked up the call from Zach, whom he’d met at the Old Finn the night before. “Yes, I appreciate you coming down to help us with our little side quest. For the time being, get some rest. We’ll be meeting tonight in a bar called the Queen B!tch... yea, ‘Bitch’, as in female dog, but with an exclamation mark instead of an ‘i’. I’ll be there around 9:30PM, but my guys will be there earlier, so you can head on down there earlier if you like. It’s along 7th Street NW. Yes, see you there. Thanks for your help.”

And with that, Langley hung up, and quickly thrust his phone into his pocket. He’d been careful not to reveal anything about the meeting other than the location.

“You look terrible, Joe”, said one of the other four- Frederick Rodney, Senior US Senator from South Carolina, and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Yea, it was a terrible trip back from New York”, Rep Langley replied dryly, his throat audibly parched.

“Age catching up to you?”

“Bollocks. You’re one to talk.” Rep Langley had just turned 67 about a month ago, and Senator Rodney, 77. This was perhaps the oldest Congress in the history of the United States.

“With age... comes wisdom”, said another of the four who were still sitting on the sofas. Rep Marilyn Hellman, the Representative from New Hampshire’s 2nd District and Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who was 70.

“None of that matters, I’d wager.” Taking a seat on top of the Resolute Desk, Rep Langley scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling restlessly, as if itching for a bout or three in a ring. “You ever realise that the Democrats and the Republicans look more or less the same these days? Politics are different nowadays. It’s not any of that stuff that gets you anywhere anymore.”

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”

Into the Oval Office, escorted by an entourage of dark-suited men in sunglasses, came the President and the Vice President, both visibly exhausted for some reason.

“President O’Brian. Vice President Angus.” Rep Langley greeted the two and got off the Desk.

“Have a seat, ladies and gentlemen”, said President James O’Brian, a tall and muscular man in his early 60s, with a full head of silver hair parted like a lion’s mane, but a pair of suspicious eyes like a hyena’s that darted back and forth opportunistically, at nothing in particular.

Langley did not sit, instead standing behind Sen Rodney and leaning on the back rest of his sofa.

“So, uh... I think you all know the reason the President and I have convened all of you today.” Vice President Tim Angus, unlike his boss, was a small and gaunt man, slightly older and more wrinkled, with a bald pate covered by a few strands of black hair pulled judiciously from the sides across his scalp, but spoke with a voice not at all unlike a radio DJ’s. “This is regarding-“

“Judge Yeager’s confirmation to the Supreme Court”, Langley completed the sentence for the Vice President. “The vacancy left by Associate Justice Shepard’s death needs to be filled quickly. Blah blah blah. Get to the good part.”

“Essentially... yes.” Vice President Angus was visibly displeased, but said nothing. Such was Congressman Langley’s reputation for rudeness and directness. The people loved it.

“We‘re going to need your cooperation on this one”, President O’Brian continued. “Especially the two of you in charge of the Senate Committee. “My press secretary should have sent the list of questions to all of you already. We’ll need Lenny’s confirmation to go smoothly. It’ll be good for all of us.”

“The Senate Judiciary Committee will not be intimidated into asking a premeditated and pre-rehearsed set of questions, not even by the President.” Senator Rodney crossed his legs and cast a glare at both President O’Brian and Vice President Angus.

An awkward pause in the discussion followed.

“The American people will not gain anything from this obstructionist behaviour”, Vice President Angus said, his tone shifting darker. “The midterms are coming. You should remember that before you act.”

“The midterms this, the midterms that”, Langley cut in. “Does it look like I’m worried about that?”

“It won’t reflect well on you”, said one of the other four- Isaac Hendon, US Representative for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

“Representative Hendon, I don’t remember asking you a goddamn thing.”

“I’m just saying. Obstructing a president from your own party just doesn’t look good.”

“It’s never been about parties or policies. A hyena like you should know that.”

“Representative Langley, please try to see this from a different standpoint”, said President O’Brian. “It‘s not gonna benefit anybody if Lenny Yeager’s hearings are dragged on. All of you...” the President gestured in a wide circle at the Representatives and Senators gathered, “... have your public images to worry about. Obstructing a person as clean as Judge Yeager for the sake of it will rub people the wrong way.

“We’re not trying to obstruct Yeager”, said Senator Rodney. “We just want a fair hearing. None of those rehearsed questions or anything like that.”

“Hearings are just political theatre”, said Vice President Angus. “Besides, like the President said, I’m sure some of you are up for re-election-“

“Don’t you fucking lecture me on electability”, Langley hissed at the Vice President. “I’ve been re-elected five times against candidates with twice as much money as I have. What, you think just because the two of you beat some half-baked Republican last year- oh, with the help of President Number 45, no less- means you know this game better than anyone? Bollocks. Stick your pacifier back in your mouth and shut the fuck up.”

“I will not tolerate such language from you, Representative Langley!” President O’Brian raised his voice and yelled at Langley.

“What, a little bit of schoolboy banter getting to you?” Langley cocked his head and answered rudely. “Welcome to American politics. If you can’t take the heat, just go ahead and resign.”

“You British asshole! I’ll teach you a lesson!”

“You want to fight a judo player in a room where everybody’s basically in a gi?”

“Judge Yeager will be confirmed, whether you like it or not.” The VP, too, raised his voice. “We have the numbers in the Senate. You know what I mean.”

“Never said he wouldn’t be”, Langley replied.

“It would be best not to fight it”, the President chimed in, now cooled down slightly. “For the sake of your re-election next year, Representative Langley, and all the other people in here. I may be a new President, but I know a thing or two about smear campaigns.”

“Oh, you can go ahead and confirm the poor sod”, said Langley. “I’m just saying, if you go with that absolute joke of a pre-arranged hearing questionnaire, I’ll make sure he has an impeachment campaign to deal with, one way or another.”

And with that, Rep Langley packed up his binder, stuck it under his armpit, and motioned for the other two House committee members to follow him out.

“See you around, Mr President”, he said, waving on his way out.

“Best wishes to you too, Representative Langley”, President O’Brian replied, exasperated. “And mark my words... Lenny Yeager will be confirmed.”

...

“So how’d your first meeting with the new President go?”

“Poor sod took the bait, hook and all”, said Langley to Leonie, over the phone, leaving the White House via a back entrance. Unlike the other two leaders of the House Judiciary Committee, who were in too bad shape to walk the full distance back to the Capitol, Joe Langley insisted on going the full distance on foot. “Hell, I almost feel sorry for him.”

“Do you think he’s a Mafia plant?”

“One hundred percent, yes. I’d bet my left testicle he doesn’t have a brain of his own. Just does what he’s told by his masters and hopes that everyone falls in line. Get ‘em worked up hard enough, and they’ll lay their blueprints out on the table for you to see.”

“So what now, boss?”

“For the time being, I’ll get my guys in the Senate committee to keep ‘em focused on the procedural bullshit. Kick up a bit of fuss about the questioning, that sort of thing. In the meantime, I’ll have Erwin and Jesse put some of the usual politician garbage on my Twitter to keep O’Brian guessing. Once you’ve got leads on Seong Jun, take him in and get him to spit out a bit about Yeager’s links to the Mafia. I’m gonna need you to do this in one week, because that’s when O’Brian plans to swear the bastard in.”

“Can do, boss. Ash has a couple of leads on where Seong Jun is most likely to be. Once we’ve got him, I’ll make him talk. I just need 24 hours.”

“Very good. Thanks, Leonie. I’ll see you guys at the Queen B!tch at 9:30PM tonight. Make sure you guys make Zach feel welcome. We’re gonna need his help to pull things off smoothly.”

“No problem. See you tonight.”

...

‘The Queen B!tch’
8:30PM

Jesse and Erwin has arrived at the bar quite a bit earlier than expected. As usual, there weren’t a lot of people, though some of the regular customers other than Joe Langley’s group had already arrived. Beverly, who came every weekday, was striking up small talk with Hide the bartender. Also sitting at the counter was a large, tattooed, muscular man in his 40s, quietly taking alternate puffs from a cigar and sips from his tulip of Prosecco.

“These days, we make most of our money from the lunch crowd”, said Ash, bringing to Jesse and Erwin their first orders for the night- edamame with chilli flakes for Jesse, and a Baileys on ice for Erwin. “I’ll let you in on a secret- we don’t cook our own meals here. The Boss struck a deal with that Italian restaurant down the street that we’d buy our food from them at a wholesale price, and in exchange, they won’t open a bar to compete with us. Smart, huh?”

“Y-yeah”, said Jesse, peeling open an edamame and popping the bean into his mouth.

“Never been one for business myself”, said Erwin, sipping his Baileys. “Left it all to Tanya.”

Ash took a seat at the booth.

“I don’t know about you two, but I have a feeling something’s gonna happen tonight”, she said. “Like... just a feeling, y’all get me?”

“Joe met with the new President today for the first time”, said Erwin. “He seemed happy about it.”

“James O’Brian? He looks like a film star.”

“Apparently he’s a pushover”, said Erwin. “And 100% with the Mafia.”

“I see.” Ash crossed her legs and leaned forward on the table.

The door to the bar opened in a flurry of chimes, and Leonie came in.

“New guy not here yet?” She asked.

“Oh, hey Leonie. New guy isn’t here yet, but it’s still early, so I guess we can give him a bit more to show up, yea?” Jesse peeled open another edamame the hard way, apparently unaware that the beans were poppable. “Have some edamame.”

“Anything for you, Leonie?”

“Maybe later. Thanks, Ash.”

“No problem”, said the waitress, getting out of the booth and brushing her bubblegum hair, before then looking down at Jesse, who averted his gaze. “Hey Jesse... come here for a second, will ya.”

Leonie sniggered.

“Zach should be here any moment now”, said Erwin, tapping his finger on the table rhythmically. From the corner of his eye, he could see Ash and Jesse engaging in quite a bit of banter next to one of the speakers, their laughter occasionally audible over the heavy 90s rock.

“Yea”, said Leonie. “Any moment. Boy, he’s in for quite a bit of fun.”

[Kaledoria]

Previously in the Old Finn
Lorelei

After initial plotting, Lorelei finally went back to her car and took her laptop out. It did not have the most sophisticated tools on it (that one was well hidden at home) but still was good enough for a bit of hacking on the fly.

She inserted the USB sticks that Kevin had brought along and started pressing buttons in a way that was at least partially to impress observers. She nodded respectfully, sighed and then declared her findings: "So, the GOOD news is, that I was able to raw copy the sticks, that way we can guess the password over and over again on new copies and avoid the trap that permanently scrambles the data after five wrong attempts." In a consolidating gesture she lifted her open hands, tilted the head to the side and continued: "The BAD news, however is, that the encryption program is a save one, so guessing is, what we will have to do." She tilted her head to the other side: "And the other BAD news is, it's none of the five hundred most commonly used passwords either, so that guy you snatched them from is no fool." At that point, Lorelei started to smile, impishly: "However the GOOD news is, that the Mafia has a strict not-writing-down-passwords rule, so it's gotta be something a human can remember and the other GOOD news is, that this is a highly parallelizable process and with this button press, I just assigned it to approximately two hundred computers across the internet, that are kind of my own little cloud-computing farm." Dramatically, she pressed another button.
"Together they should have tested about a billion passwords in two days. You know, words, strings of words, words with numbers and special characters added or common replacements like writing a 3 for an E ... Anyway, if he was really paranoid, and I have no results by the day after tomorrow I will call you, Antihero and might require a few funds to access external resources. Should give me another speedup of factor 5 to 10 even just using contacts, where I can guaranty they don't look at the data they compute, unlike those commercial cloud computing services secretly sponsored by the NSA do."

Lorelei gave Tom a side-glance when she mentioned the government's lack of respect for people's privacy. Since he was still talking and walking like an Agent, she was not sure how much of the Company was still in him. She then pressed another few buttons and closed the laptop. From her face, it was obvious she was in her element, when rambling about her trade.

She reached over the bar to grab a bottle of Bourbon and a bunch of shot glasses, took them to the table and started distributing them without even asking. Overall not much came from it, as the guests had a lot to think about and quickly departed. She, too, used the fact that she was still basically sober to drive back to her apartment and then take the subway to the club where she was planing to get drunk af. Today was a day for some electronic music, dark and edgy. New wave, next wave, dream wave, that kind of experience was what she sought, when she was hyped on some hacker job. On the dancefloor, packed close between anonymous bodies wobbling epilepticly in the light of the stroboscope, she felt invisible - in the best sense, like it did not matter who she was, what she did, she was just one of the mass.

She fell into bed early in the morning (alone, she did not really need company right now) and slept through much of the day. In the late afternoon, she awoke, checked the state of her password-cracking and looked for messages from Tom, as he had mentioned, she might be useful on a reconnaissance mission before the big attack on the vault.

[Infected Mushroom]

The night of the first meeting...

Paul Lacrosse

Paul was one of the last to leave the meeting. He had found his time to talk to Tom.

The meeting had rekindled a spirit of adventure in the broken middle-aged man. For the longest time, he had given up, but now... now he was back. He felt young again. The thought of going up against the Mafia once more made him feel alive with fire. As the chattering and talks broke out, Paul was at ease again... perhaps too much at ease because he began to down drink after drink, but just within his limits. It was easier to exercise restraint when he WASN'T feeling on the down low for once.

"Paul you have no idea what it means for us to have you on the team," Tom said warmly. "You're one of the last good cops left. You'll prove valuable."

"I no longer have my badge and I'm getting a bit old," Paul said uneasily as he sipped some more beer. "But HEY... I'll make do and kick ass! Now that there's no warrants to tie me up. I'm definitely going to hit the shooting range again. Hit up the gym too."

Well if I can't tell my wife the whole thing... at least she'll approve of the gym.

There's going to be lots of fighting and killing down the road... can't leave it all to the big shots here.


He looked around once more. Definitely lots and lots of fighters and killers here... Kevin and Antihero. Also, that Shiroi woman gave off the vibes of a seriously cold-hearted bitch too; something told him he wouldn't want to end up on the wrong end of that sword. Still... swords in this day and age?

Then he looked at Tom, a real close look. He looked younger than he expected; he had half expected a grizzled white-bearded CIA troll.

"Listen Paul," Tom said, cracking a slight smile. "Tomorrow, something's going to come in through your mail. You should try to get to it first."

Paul was perplexed.

The hell?

"Wait Tom," Paul said. "You're... you're not going to send a GUN to me through the mail are you? I'm already packed. I got my old service pistol."

"Nah," Tom replied. "It's not that. I've got something better. It will arrive in an important-looking envelope, you couldn't miss it. Inside, you'll find a letter stating that the entire sum of your giant mortgage has been completely paid for. The entire sum, the whole amount to the last cent, for the entirety of your Rainsford Drive property. If you call the bank and the relevant parties, you'll find that it checks out."

WHAT?! ... A... A FUCKING HANDOUT?!

Paul was outraged, ecstatic, happy and shocked...

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Paul protested loudly. "Now that's-"

Tom raised a hand. "It's non-negotiable... and it's already done. I like you Paul but there's much more to this... Fact of the matter is Paul, you're now part of a team and we can't have any weak points. I need you 100% focused on this project and your massive mortgage is an area of serious weakness that the Mafia could potentially capitalise on at any point. I'm taking that weak point away... by ridding you of the mortgage once and for all. Consider it in part... long overdue good karma for your past bravery against the United Mafia... the other part is for the interest of the team."

Paul was speechless with shock. Who the hell could just drop down a few hundred thousand dollars like this? This team had some serious money.

"But... but won't it look suspicious?" Paul said, looking flustered. "And how the hell would I explain to my wife-"

"The envelope will come with a letter from the government," Tom said. "It looks 100% authentic. You are a beneficiary of a government program."

"The Federal Government Selected Beneficiaries Mortgage Repayment Program," Antihero interjected.

"There's a signature and several numbers and contacts attached..." Tom pressed. "If your wife ever calls, I've got people from many sides to deal with those. The whole story's been bought and paid for."

"Son of a bitch..." Paul muttered, shocked to the bone. "But how did the money actually-"

"You don't need to know that," Tom said simply, though he did turn a bit towards Antihero.

Next to Paul, Antihero refilled his beer. "A drink to that?" the masked vigilante said.

Paul picked up the glass, dumbfounded. His life was about to change.

Tom raised his coffee cup.

"Welcome to the team Paul," Tom said. "I'm sure you're going to do very very well."

CLINK!

---

Antihero

At some point in the evening, Lorelei went to the car and back to get some equipment. She was in a position to give a preliminary rundown on the chances of hacking the USB.

She [Lorelei] inserted the USB sticks that Kevin had brought along and started pressing buttons in a way that was at least partially to impress observers. She nodded respectfully, sighed and then declared her findings: "So, the GOOD news is, that I was able to raw copy the sticks, that way we can guess the password over and over again on new copies and avoid the trap that permanently scrambles the data after five wrong attempts." In a consolidating gesture she lifted her open hands, tilted the head to the side and continued: "The BAD news, however is, that the encryption program is a save one, so guessing is, what we will have to do." She tilted her head to the other side: "And the other BAD news is, it's none of the five hundred most commonly used passwords either, so that guy you snatched them from is no fool." At that point, Lorelei started to smile, impishly: "However the GOOD news is, that the Mafia has a strict not-writing-down-passwords rule, so it's gotta be something a human can remember and the other GOOD news is, that this is a highly parallelizable process and with this button press, I just assigned it to approximately two hundred computers across the internet, that are kind of my own little cloud-computing farm." Dramatically, she pressed another button.
"Together they should have tested about a billion passwords in two days. You know, words, strings of words, words with numbers and special characters added or common replacements like writing a 3 for an E ... Anyway, if he was really paranoid, and I have no results by the day after tomorrow I will call you, Antihero and might require a few funds to access external resources. Should give me another speedup of factor 5 to 10 even just using contacts, where I can guaranty they don't look at the data they compute, unlike those commercial cloud computing services secretly sponsored by the NSA do."

Antihero turned and saw that Tom Gabriels was looking pleased.

"That's excellent news," Tom said. "Try your best to crack it."

"Lorelei Martin," Antihero said to her. "I will definitely give you the funding. It's not a problem. Tom will provide you with a way to contact me. Use it at any time and the cold hard cash will come."

Later on, Tom clarified, "Don't worry Lorelei, at some point tomorrow, I will contact you regarding the scouting mission."

---

Paul Lacrosse

6375 Rainsford Drive
Kensington (Suburb of New York City)

Very late at night, Paul Lacrosse parked his beat up vehicle back into the garage, still shocked by the night's event and a part of him wondering if it all could be some kind of a dream. The alcohol was rushing through his veins but he still had clarity of mind enough.

The mortgage is gone. And I'm going to go around killing mobsters... THE HELL?!

He got out of his car, unlocked the front door, and entered. The lights were already on; this was not a good sign.

Andrea was up, in her nightgown, standing by the kitchen. There was a frown on her face.

"Paul?" she said crossly. "Where have you been? I... I was worried. Have you... have you been DRINKING?!"

If it were any other night, Paul would have lashed back (he sometimes felt infantilised), but on this day, he was in a good mood so he smiled. Andrea stepped back a bit, not expecting this kind of a response.

"Hey Andrea," Paul said. "Let's just say that... it's possible I got myself a new gig."

"R... really?"

"Yes, I'll tell you all about it in the morning," Paul replied genially. "But right now... I need to get some sleep. There's some important things I need to do tomorrow."

Andrea was confused. What was going on? She rarely saw Paul like this. He wasn't in one of those drunken, depressed states... this was something else. Could he have found-

Paul promptly walked past his wife and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. For a small part of the rest of the night, Andrea tried to get another word out of Paul. But Paul wasn't saying much.

[Infected Mushroom]

Dursley-Lintz Group HQ
New York City

Tom Gabriels

It was finally time for Tom Gabriels to launch the reconnaissance mission.

He grabbed coffee beforehand. At some point during the day, “Jonathan Mueller” left his comfy office at Dursley-Lintz and headed out for “a client in another town.”

In actuality, he set out to gather the three other antiheroes he would need for a particular mission.

Tom drove his black Toyota up to the steel panel gate of a prepared garage in a rundown part of the city. He entered a passcode with a remote and this caused the steel panel to slide upwards… revealing a very large indoor space filled with several parking slots and vehicles.

Once there, he parked his Toyota, got out, rushed to the back to switch...

There was a large white and red RV waiting... very large and comfortably able to transport 4 individuals. There was a driver’s area with two seats. In the middle there was a large sitting area with fixed seating... several affixed cabinets and drawers, even a self-contained fridge system. The RV came with some extent of internal power though from a casual observer, it wasn’t clear that such considerable technology was carried. Two bunked beds stacked on top of each other with an attached ladder. Several containers were scattered about; some furniture pieces were affixed. There was a door leading to a separate storage room near the back.

Tom double-checked that all the equipment for the mission was inside and well-hidden... The list included (but was not limited to):

Several choice US sniper ghillie suits and equipment, green forest edition

Several outfits of dark green jackets and pants, complete with green boots (for blending into the forest), all sizes were correct. Suitable forest battle gear options for those who disfavoured the ghillie suits (they were known to be uncomfortable) but needed camouflage.

Several M151 Spotting Scopes and Steiner 7x50rc M50rc Commander Military Tactical Binoculars

Radios and COM Links

Several HD printed maps and markers

Several pieces of choice high tech specified state-of-the-art equipment for long range hacking (very expensive and requested from Lorelei, but they had the money). Lorelei was bringing some gear of her own but had made some requests to up the game.

Two large guns were stowed and hidden: a M4A1 with adjustable sights and a battle ready M95 Sniper Rifle. Ammo was limited. In addition there were several service pistols.

All of this was hidden away in carefully selected spots throughout the RV inside custom-made secret compartments (some of it in the sitting area, others in the storage room at the back). It was important to minimize suspicion in the event they got searched.

In addition, there were considerable amounts of food and medical supplies in the cabinets… not enough to withstand a medieval siege, but a fair amount.

Tom closed the side door and got to the front. With considerable satisfaction, he sat down and started the engine with his keys.

It is finally time…

---

Around 30 minutes later, Tom drove his vehicle around town and picked up the following individuals:

George Hamilton
Lorelei Martin
Shiroi Kasamoto

Now everyone was seated throughout the RV. Tom was driving the vehicle at the front, for this occasion, he wore a simple brown work jacket, white shirt, and a red tie.

“Well…” Tom said. “Judging by the coordinates you provided George, we’re in for a several hours long drive through the countryside. We’ll even be heading into slightly mountaineous terrain later. Ladies and gentlemen… I hope you don’t have any other pressing engagements for the day.”

“Nope,” Shiroi said. “I’m all set for this.”

The RV sped through the highway, they were several minutes out of New York City now… and already a forested scenery was emerging on either side.

“We’ll be hitting the mountains in about twenty,” Tom said. “If anyone wants to put on some music… be my guest. … Shiroi you want to put your sword somewhere?”

“It’s not going to fit in the cabinet,” Shiroi said coldly. “And forget it, my family sword stays with me at all times.”

“Hmmmm….”

[Keruma]

Lee, Jonathan

The rest of the meeting had gone by in a blur. The plan was to literally break into a prison full of psychopaths, terrorists, and other friendly people you'd get a drink with on Friday night. Truth be told, Jonathan was highly disturbed by the plan but didn't object altogether. He knew the benefits of the attack if it went according to plan. They would get a lot more people to help their cause and if they didn't join them outright, hopefully, they cause enough ruckus that they force the united mafia to divide their attention.

If it doesn't work, then Jonathan is content with being a martyr.

Jonathan was surprised when Tom spoke of him and for quite a while, too. Jonathan was never the one to fish for compliments, so he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. It also didn't exactly help that a majority of the people looked at Jonathan once Tom mentioned him. Thankfully, Jonathan was able to keep his cool and act nonchalantly.

It was decided that their group would be tentatively named the Antihero force (named after... well... Antihero) and that the preparations still need to be done so the attack will happen in a week. In the meantime, they were instructed to get ready and train up because the attack on the Vault isn't going to be pretty. Everyone started to leave, Jonathan included. He went to one of the hideouts Tom gave for everyone to use. He still wasn't sure if his old apartment was safe so he decided to stay low for a while.

Two days later
Queens, New York

This was the last time that Jonathan would probably get to walk around the city of New York. He also wouldn't be doing parkour for fun, now it's a tool to help him escape and move around. Jonathan wasn't particularly excited by the whole thing. In fact, he hasn't felt much ever since his parents died, Which was strange to him. They were horrible parents, so why wasn't he feeling anything? Was it something like Stockholm Syndrome? Or, did he still feel love for his parents?

Lost in thought, Jonathan eventually ended up back at his (now former) apartment. Curious, he stepped inside the complex to visit the place one last time.

The apartment was in shambles. All of the furniture was broken and his possessions were ransacked. Jonathan proceeded to walk around the apartment, finding anything he could salvage.

Then a sound was heard outside. Crying. Muffled pleading. A scream. Jonathan exited his apartment and slowly stalked to the neighboring apartment where the sounds were coming from. It belonged to a single mom, which greatly concerned him. What happened to her? Where's the kid?

"Come on, lady, it's been two days. Aren't you tired of seeing my handsome face?" A voice inside the apartment said. "Just tell me where Mr. Lee is and I'll leave you with only a broken arm." More pleading can be heard from inside. Then, a gut-wrenching scream can be heard. At that point, Jonathan ran into the apartment and saw the carnage. In the middle of the apartment, there was the mother. Tied up, beaten, bruised, bloodied, and had burn marks all over her arms. Standing beside her and holding an uzi was a long-haired man in all-black attire.

"Where's the kid?" Jonathan asked, tightening his grip on the pistol he had pulled out earlier. "Ah! Hello, Mr. Lee. My name's Calvin Opizzi," The man spoke, and within a second he up his uzi. "Now, it's time for you to die" As he pulled the trigger. Thankfully, Jonathan was much faster than the man. Within a second he himself fired his pistol. Both men dived to cover, with Calvin diving under the couch and Jonathan scrambling to enter the bathroom.

Panting, he needed to come up with a plan, and fast.

[North Timeria]

Zach had only been in D.C. a few hours and was already getting into trouble. His biggest fear would be that someone his dad knew would recognize him. But what were the chances? These Mafia guys run into a bunch of random faces. He had got a taxi to the area in D.C. a bit early so that he could walk around and get a feel for the area. He had never been to D.C. before and didn’t really know what to expect. It was supposed to be the center of freedom… A beacon of democracy but Zach could only see corruption. The American Dream had been tarnished by the Mafia, dragged through the dirt. These feelings in Zach he couldn’t really explain but he knew he was angry. His visit to D.C. gave him even more commitment and he was determined to do what he could to help destroy the Mafia.

Right now that meant meeting some of Langley’s contacts at a bar ‘The Queen B!tch’. He didn’t know exactly who he was meeting but he walked into the bar with confidence. It wasn’t too crowded and Zach scanned the room a few times. He didn’t immediately recognize anyone so he sat by the bar. He looked around a few times and ordered a drink. As he sat down he watched the TV and chatted with the bartender...just small talk before getting to the point. He told the bar tender he was from the west coast and asked if he followed politics.

“Yea I’m from California… Just here doing some advocacy work. Hopefully, I’ll get to speak to my representative Joseph Langley.” Zach said this and looked around the bar to see if anyone had picked up on his mention of Langley.

[Kaledoria]

Van on some NY state road
Lorelei

Lorelei probably had the strongest feelings towards music, so when Tom offered the sound system to anyone, she instantly flipped out her MP3-player (yes, she had one of those, independently of her phone that also had some music on it. She liked a large choice).

She scrolled through her selection and considered the age of the others. Shiroi, she assumed, was in her early 30s but Lorelei was bad a guessing, specifically with Japanese. Tom was probably around 40 and George old as dirt. Lorelei knew, that the years 15 to 19 were the ones where people developed the strongest emotional bonding to music and calculated the years 03-07 for Shiroi and 95-99 for Tom. She thus selected Nighwish's Angels Fall First, Offspring's Americana, Gwen Stephanie's Love Angel Music Baby and Chemical Romance's Black Parade to be played on shuffle. As far as oldies went, she really only had Pink Floyd, Ramones and Bowie with her and considering that a man of George's ...sophistication... probably had strong ideological objections to the former two, she threw Bowie's 1969 album into the mix. "I hope I have a little bit for everybody," she announced.

Then she went back to the drones. They had two, both pretty standard commercial products with some very non-standard add-ons. The smaller one was basically a toy, that despite the hefty price for a toy was marketed towards children age 12 and above and that's how easy it was to fly. Lorelei picked up the remote-control, put on the VR-Goggles and let it take of. The tiny quad-copter was so stable it could lift of and hover stable inside the moving van. Carefully Lorelei trained with it, letting it land on her own head. "With the induction interface in this one, I might even be able to hack into cameras, if they are connected to the security grid through cable and not wireless, but I will have to land right on top of them, obviously," she commented. "And obviously I need to approach them from a dead angle. Damn, this might be tough I hope we have no wind today."

[Infected Mushroom]

Inside the RV

Tom Gabriels

Tom and company enjoyed the musical selections from Lorelei... for the most part.

A few hours in, the van was now heading up into the mountains; Lorelei had finished testing the drones... they were fully operational.

The sky was a beautiful bright blue; decorated by white marshmallow-like clouds. Pine trees and rocky slopes alternated across both sides of the RV. There was a view of a lake in the distance.

“Of all the places to hide a secret evil fortress,” Shiroi asked wryly, turning to George. “I'd never expect this place."

As Tom remained focused on the wheel, he said to the team:

“Alright, according to my systems, we are approaching the area soon. We'll stop well beyond the edge of the base... I want a scouting range and safety net of roughly 4,000 meters out just to be absolutely safe. It's 100% critical the Mafia never knows we were here at all. I’m going to park the vehicle off the road and hide it amongst the trees. I’ll get out there in my ghillie suit... crawl and sneak around, take long range photos and report coordinates and findings back with radio and com. Shiroi you’re staying in the van and taking the dictation with my laptop... get that map up. You need to study further?”

“Nah I got the system down,” Shiroi replied. “I’m a good note taker. When you come back, you’ll have your blueprint and layout of the base, or at least a big portion of it. ... Though Tom, you don’t want to trade? I’m a stealthy-“

“The forest is my terrain,” Tom insisted. "Besides Shiroi, you don't want this, I could be out there for hours in all likelihood. And the forest will be full of bugs."

Then he turned to Lorelei, “I guess you can stay in the van and test the signals. Don’t deploy the drones too far out until I give the signal, I’ll tell you when by COM. I want to make sure the place isn’t swamped by security to begin with. We can’t afford any probability that they know we are here at all.”

---

A while later...

The van was parked amidst the trees and well off the road. It had taken a while, but eventually Tom and Shiroi found the right position. They drove the car off the road into slightly hilly terrain, with some effort, they were able to get it in a few meters into the tree until most of it was well-out of sight... a base of operations amidst leafy forest trees.

"Time to go," Tom said. He disappeared behind the storage area to change, when he returned, he looked... very different.

Tom was now completely covered from head to toe in green and brown thistles; his grille suit made him look like some kind of a faceless monster. He had a utility belt, along with his COM Link and a service pistol. Attached to his back and to the side with straps were his M95 sniper rifle, a large M151 Spotting Scope and his tactical military binoculars.

Shiroi Kasamoto had set up the laptop. Her features focused with concentration as she turned on the software, her fingers itching to begin typing. A complex interface began to activate across the screen.

"System is green," Shiroi said, while at the same time taking out the hardcopies of the maps to cross check with the laptop system later. "Whenever you're ready."

Tom saluted the group. Then he quietly exited the van.

Now Lorelei, George, and Shiroi were alone inside.

---

Tom Gabriels was crawling through the grass and amidst the trees. Not a single sound was made as he moved across like a snake; his eyes alert. His discipline was such that he ignored the scratchy feel of the uncomfortable clothes...

It's important I find the perfect position...

He kept crawling and crawling, all the while, his beady eyes looked around, carefully taking in everything he could see.

Ah it's good to be back in the field... WELL NOT REALLY

[CoraSpia]

George Hamilton

George could be sneaky when he wanted to, and he very much doubted that during the trip the rest of the group had noticed the fingers darting out and switching AUX cables around. When George's music played however they certainly did notice, leaving the old man to wonder whether they truly liked heavy metal or were just too polite to say much about it to him.

Given the way that George Hamilton looked at the moment you probably wouldn't say a great deal. Magical energy was usually invisible to those who didn't practice it: nobody but an expert would ever notice the bindings he often used on Kevin for example; however when you had spent an entire drive of several hours drawing more and more power to yourself it was very common for strange dark shadows to congregate around your body. The shadows seemed to crawl over George at the moment: the Duke seemed utterly composed as he ran the last checks on the bulky Thompson submachine gun he was carrying.

"He's not going to see anything," George explained to the remaining members of the group after Tom has exited, "This place is entirely underground. Infact...if when I designed things I didn't have this strange and highly contract-breaching habit of including secret entrances into the buildings, there'd be no way of us getting in in the first place. This thing however...I'd be quite frankly amazed if the mafia had any idea that it was there. It really is extremely well-hidden, if I do say so myself. When do we begin?"

[Nagakawa]

Washington D.C.

‘The Queen B!tch’
8:45PM

Zach had only been in D.C. a few hours and was already getting into trouble. His biggest fear would be that someone his dad knew would recognize him. But what were the chances? These Mafia guys run into a bunch of random faces. He had got a taxi to the area in D.C. a bit early so that he could walk around and get a feel for the area. He had never been to D.C. before and didn’t really know what to expect. It was supposed to be the center of freedom… A beacon of democracy but Zach could only see corruption. The American Dream had been tarnished by the Mafia, dragged through the dirt. These feelings in Zach he couldn’t really explain but he knew he was angry. His visit to D.C. gave him even more commitment and he was determined to do what he could to help destroy the Mafia.

Right now that meant meeting some of Langley’s contacts at a bar ‘The Queen B!tch’. He didn’t know exactly who he was meeting but he walked into the bar with confidence. It wasn’t too crowded and Zach scanned the room a few times. He didn’t immediately recognize anyone so he sat by the bar. He looked around a few times and ordered a drink. As he sat down he watched the TV and chatted with the bartender...just small talk before getting to the point. He told the bar tender he was from the west coast and asked if he followed politics.

“Yea I’m from California… Just here doing some advocacy work. Hopefully, I’ll get to speak to my representative Joseph Langley.” Zach said this and looked around the bar to see if anyone had picked up on his mention of Langley.

“Ah, you must be Zach.”

Upon hearing the man’s introduction, Leonie got up from her seat and went over to where Zach sat, stretching out her hand for a handshake.

“My name’s Leonie”, she said, nodding stoically and pointing Zach to the seat where Jesse and Erwin sat. “This is Erwin, and this is Jesse. We’re with Representative Langley.”

Seeing the arrival of the new guy, Ash sauntered over to the booth where Joe Langley’s people were seated, grinning at Zach and offering him an impish wink. Aside from the four of them, the bar was relatively empty- aside from two old men sitting at the counter and chatting with the bartender, the four were the only ones around that night.

“Anything for you to drink?” Ash asked Zach.

“Have a drink”, said Leonie. “It’s on Joe’s tab. He’ll be here any moment.”

[Infected Mushroom]

In the field
New York Mountainside

Tom Gabriels

A long while after, Tom was still hacking at it.

No hostiles so far... and to make matters worse... not a single trace of activity in the area. What is this?

Silent as a snake, Tom crawled through the trees and the grassy plains until he reached the top of one of the higher hills in the area. From here, he stayed prone. His eyes surveyed the terrain. He could see the forests, the hills, the lake, the endless field beyond, the mountains...

Tom pulled out his military binnoculars and continued to watch relentlessly. After many more minutes of systematic study, he reported through the radio.

"This is Gabriels. No sign of enemy activity. None whatsoever. Over."

"Nothing at all?" Shiroi's voice came back.

"Nothing. I think it's time for Lorelei to deploy the drones. There's not a sign of enemy activity, might as well get maximum topographical survey."

---

George Hamilton

George could be sneaky when he wanted to, and he very much doubted that during the trip the rest of the group had noticed the fingers darting out and switching AUX cables around. When George's music played however they certainly did notice, leaving the old man to wonder whether they truly liked heavy metal or were just too polite to say much about it to him.

Given the way that George Hamilton looked at the moment you probably wouldn't say a great deal. Magical energy was usually invisible to those who didn't practice it: nobody but an expert would ever notice the bindings he often used on Kevin for example; however when you had spent an entire drive of several hours drawing more and more power to yourself it was very common for strange dark shadows to congregate around your body. The shadows seemed to crawl over George at the moment: the Duke seemed utterly composed as he ran the last checks on the bulky Thompson submachine gun he was carrying.

"He's not going to see anything," George explained to the remaining members of the group after Tom has exited, "This place is entirely underground. Infact...if when I designed things I didn't have this strange and highly contract-breaching habit of including secret entrances into the buildings, there'd be no way of us getting in in the first place. This thing however...I'd be quite frankly amazed if the mafia had any idea that it was there. It really is extremely well-hidden, if I do say so myself. When do we begin?"

The RV

Shiroi Kasamoto

When George had first mentioned that they were unlikely to find anything, the Japanese woman had simply replied, "Well I hope you're wrong."

Now that Tom's reply came through though, Shiroi was disappointed. Her fingers were itching to start entering data points and info into the software. "I think you jinxed the whole thing," she said half-seriously to George.

Then she turned to Lorelei.

"Hey Martin," she said. "I think Tom wants you to deploy your toys. If there are mob boys, they're probably underground for now. But hopefully we can pick something out from the sky? Wanna play?"

---

Tom Gabriels

Tom was very uncomfortable, hidden amongst the grass at the top of a hill. But with his sniper training, he focused exclusively on staying hidden and to maximize his observation and analysis of the surroundings. His strong mind was able to block out the itchiness... and some of the insects.

To try a new perspective, Tom had now taken out his M95 sniper and was using the magnified scope to gain fresh perspective on the distance.

He was looking for anything and everything. So far, there was no sign of habitation.

But if there was a base... surely it would need to be resupplied. If not by roads, then wouldn't the mob need to hike here? How did this work?

Surely there would be traces of some kind?

I must stay patient. Details. It's always in the details.

---

'

The RV

Shiroi Kasamoto

In the van, Shiroi turned to George, "What else do you know of the base?"

[Christian Confederation]

Senator Steve Johnson, Arlington Virginia
Senator Steve Johnson has been appointed by the Governor of Texas to finish out his predecessors term. Senator Rogers resigned following a Sex Scandal involving his Secretary. Now Johnson a 35 year old who has quickly moved from Waco Rep in the State House to Representing the entire state in the US Senate.
With his wife Maggie and son Peter back in Texas until the school year is over Steve is alone in DC.
The Senate
Steve arrives at the Senate office building and walks to the front desk. "Good morning sir I'm Senator Johnson of Texas." He said reaching his hand out to shake the gaurds hand. "The names Stan, It's nice to meet you Senator." The Gaurd said.
"It's nice to meet you Sam, You wouldn't happen to know where my office is do you?" Steve asked. "I do know where your office is Senator, Fallow me."
The Office
"Thanks Stan." Steve said with a smile. "Don't worry about it sir it's my job." Stan said with a laugh. "Just Steve is fine." He told Stan. "Alright Steve I'll see you around." Stan said before leaving.

[Madrinpoor]

Joel Avati (me), Cesario Marino, Edmondo Golino, Vincenzo Rizzo (mentioned, so you can use him but please don't kill him if that it fine)

Joel sat on a motorcycle hidden in a dark alleyway, fingering is hunting knife with his thick driving gloves. Any moment now, his informant would alert him that his target, his way into the mob, was outside the laundromat he was going to, for some reason, enter. He had been getting information from this informant for months, and had produced small answers. A 17-year old junior thug. The owner of a business used as a front by the mob. Joey didn't know how his informant gave him this...he never asked. He didn't need to know because his answers had led to good targets. But this promised to lead to a bigger target, one that would give him the answers he wanted. The justice he wanted. His radio crackled—"He's here!" the voice on the other end called. Joey's head snapped up and he revved his motorcycle, pulling out of the alleyway and down the streets, racing towards the laundromat in Little Italy. He pulled into a little side street next to the building, but a big thug on a balcony saw him. "Hey!" he shouted, recognizing that nobody was supposed to be there. Joel pulled out his gun, and fired at him, missing and hitting the wall next to his head. The thug ran inside the shop and Joel climbed up the ladder by the side of the building, reaching the balcony just as thin guy popped out, looking for him. He was met with a punch from Joel, who jumped onto the balcony and punched him again, knocking the thug to the ground. The thug grabbed at his knife, but Joel grabbed him off the ground and slammed him to the side of the balcony, overtop the side street. He pressed his knife to the thug's neck. "What is your name? Who is your boss?" he asked. The thug squirmed, trying not to break omerta. "Who is your boss!" Joel demanded, but before the skinny thug could answer, the other thug from before barreled towards him, slamming him to the side, knocking his knife onto the balcony, and sent the skinny thug screaming over the edge. Joel was met with a hard punch to the chin that sent his head back and then another punch to the gut that sent him doubling over. The thug prepared for another punch, one that could break Joel's back. The thug never even needed a knife. Joel gasped for breath and saw the thug's hand raising out of the corner of his eye. His hands feeled over the ground, desperately searching for someth—his knife! Joel grabbed his knife and swung it upwards as the thug's hand swung down...and the knife stabbed into his arm. The thug screamed, and Joel grabbed his shirt then drove his knee into the thug's crotch. Joel pulled him around and pushed him through the door of the balcony and into the laundromat, sending him tumbling to the floor. Joel staggered back to the edge of the balcony and grabbed for his gun, as the thug ripped Joel's knife out of his arm and grabbed his own from his jacket. The thug charged at Joel with his knife drawn, blind with rage from his stab. Joel managed to pull his gun out and fired at the charging mass of the thug running towards him, hitting him in the side. The thug dropped his knife on the balcony and doubled over, clutching the wound. Joel ran over to the thug and jumped on top of him, grabbing the thug's knife and pressing it to his back. "What is your name? Who hired you? What are you doing here?" Joel asked, but the thug didn't answer. Using the last of his energy he tried to buck Joel off, but Joel drove the knife into his left shoulder and twisted it. The thug let out another cry of pain, and doubled down, gasping for breath. Joel pulled the knife out and grabbed his wallet from his jacket. "Edmondo Golino? That's your name? See that wasn't so hard! We could have avoided all of this if you had just told me. Now who do you work for?" Joel asked. The thug, realizing he was defeated with two stab wounds and a bullet wound, gave in. "I work for the United Mafia. I am just a thug, I am not important!" he gasped. "Who is the leader?" Joel asked him. Edmondo didn't respond, so Joel pressed the knife to his shoulder lightly. "I don't know! They don't say. They just call her 'The Queen'. She controls it all, and she is the leader. I have heard she even uses magic. I don't know. This is a dark world, and she controls it all." he said. "The highest up I know is..." he faltered. "Tell me or I stab you in the kidneys." Joel said. The thug gulped and told him "Rizzo. Vincenzo. He runs a crew of gangsters on the Lower East Side...Comes up with creative schemes to ruin people's lives. I report to him. The laundromat was a front for the drug money he gets from smuggling. I don't know where to find him, but he should be near the docks soon...he has a delivery coming in. That is all I know." Joel could tell he was telling the truth. He slipped the wallet into his coat pocket, and stabbed Edmondo's knife into the wall, pinning his leather jacket so he couldn't get away. Joel took Edmondo's gun, and his knife and gun, and climbed down the ladder. The skinny thug was unconscious on the ground, but still alive. Joel bound his legs and hands using cords from the laundromat and gagged him with a bandana. He then dropped the thug into a dumpster, and drove off on his motorcycle. He met some figures outside a diner downtown. "Cesaro Marino — the one you wanted me to find, he is in a dumpster at the laundromat on the corner of Chrystie and Rivington. Get there quick, I am calling the police in thirty minutes to come get a thug that is bleeding over the balcony of that building. Money?" Joel told them. "We'll get there. How much? Six hundred? Ahkay." He gave Joel $600, and they drove off. Joel got what he wanted, more knowledge about the mob and a way up the feeding chain...

[North Timeria]

Washington D.C.

‘The Queen B!tch’
8:45PM


As they approached Zach he got a bit nervous, not knowing what to expect. The group seemed okay but this was his first time meeting them and considering the situation his nerves were warranted.

"Hey, nice to meet everyone. Yea Representative Langley called me out here to help out with some things."

The crew sat at a booth in the mostly empty bar... This was a bit concerning but Zach understood the caution. He thought about what his dad would think if he suddenly went missing. The authorities would probably never find his body and his dad had no idea he was in D.C. working against the mob. He had hoped they at least wouldn't torture him.

"Sure I guess ill take a Mojito... And I didn't know he'd be here tonight."

Zach was a bit quiet observing everyone as he waited for his drink.

"So how'd you guys meet Representative Langley... I'm fairly new to his acquaintance."

[Kaledoria]

Lorelei, in the van

"I'll take the big one," Lorelei announced, "It has the greater signal strength, a better frequency scanner and its inductive scanner works as a long range metal detector." The fact, that Tom and Shiroi spoke of the Drones in plural made Lorelei fear, the others might overestimate her abilities somewhat. She was happy that she was decently able to fly one at a time and even though she had already used induction scanners to locate and tap on cables she had never done so remotely. She tried not to let her lack of confidence show and the larger drone launched.

She first took a sweep over the area. "I'm picking up no signals whatsoever," she reported. "Wait, correction there is one, very faint ... No, two in fact." She turned the drone and explored that direction. After a minute she added: "There is a small shack northeast of you Tom, about one kilometer. The signals are coming from inside, they are very infrequent and regular, which is why I had almost overlooked them. Definitely no communication, probably a dead-man-switch or something."

She turned around and flew back, closer to Tom, where he and George expected the base. From above she spotted a meadow, that looked suspicious. She lowered the inductive scanner. It was not like the others cared but she explained nevertheless, to break the silence: "It works basically like a hand-held metal scanner but it uses the earth magnetic field instead of creating an own. Even though the rotors are non-metallic, the metallic, rotating parts in the electric engine would disturb the scanner on close range, that's why it's on the telescopic staff ... Oh, there is something."

She flew a little lower and reported: "About 40 meters in front of you, Tom, beginning of the meadow, that is some big metal underground, about one meter wide, running parallel to the edge of the forest. Must be very big and/or very close to the surface, no simple cables, either huge pipes or maybe ... pressure plates or something?" She flew the drone forward a bit, carefully. "Okay, there is some resonance here everywhere. Probably because more metal further below earth, or maybe a thin iron webbing close to the surface ... I'm a hacker not prospector, okay? Oh, here is something heavier, directly under the surface, about a foot in diameter. Maybe a landmine?" She flew a spiral above the meadow and continued: "There are more of those, quite far apart for an efficient mine-field but I don't know what else they could be. And ... as if I had guessed it," Lorelei sounded triumphant, "right in the middle, there is something about the size of a large manhole cover right below the grass. Must be the entrance, though I see no way to open it." She pulled the inductive scanner in and let the drone rise high. The adrenaline made her fingers on the joystick a little shaky and she did not want to risk touching the ground. While the Drone was in automatic hover mode, she took a look at Shiroi's notes. "Perfect. I mean, as far as I could tell. We really need to bring a hand-held scanner for the exact positions when we attack. So ... Mission accomplished?"

[Infected Mushroom]

Senator Steve Johnson, Arlington Virginia
Senator Steve Johnson has been appointed by the Governor of Texas to finish out his predecessors term. Senator Rogers resigned following a Sex Scandal involving his Secretary. Now Johnson a 35 year old who has quickly moved from Waco Rep in the State House to Representing the entire state in the US Senate.
With his wife Maggie and son Peter back in Texas until the school year is over Steve is alone in DC.
The Senate
Steve arrives at the Senate office building and walks to the front desk. "Good morning sir I'm Senator Johnson of Texas." He said reaching his hand out to shake the gaurds hand. "The names Stan, It's nice to meet you Senator." The Gaurd said.
"It's nice to meet you Sam, You wouldn't happen to know where my office is do you?" Steve asked. "I do know where your office is Senator, Fallow me."
The Office
"Thanks Stan." Steve said with a smile. "Don't worry about it sir it's my job." Stan said with a laugh. "Just Steve is fine." He told Stan. "Alright Steve I'll see you around." Stan said before leaving.

The Office

Steve's office was large and comfortable, as befitting a politician of his ranking. Senators held a great deal of prestige and power in the USA, at least on the surface.

Steve was about to sit down when suddenly there came a very loud knock at the door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Steve turned around, confused.

The door opened and a person stood before Steve. The newcomer had a brazen, very obnoxious-looking expression on his face. Steve had never seen this man before. The intruder had light brown-curly hair and a very large nose, beady little eyes. The man was dressed in a grey suit and he had a blood red tie, clean polished leather Italian shoes.

Who the hell was he? And who let this guy in?

"Senator Johnson," he said in a slick and oily voice. "May I come in? Of course I can."

Rather rudely, he strolled in and took a seat facing the Senator's desk... even before Johnson himself had sat down in his own office. He had a look on his face that said he was used to being obeyed. He waved a hand, as if telling Steve to sit down in his own office.

"Come now... let's get the Gucci Talk started," he said slickly.

[Infected Mushroom]

Lorelei, in the van

"I'll take the big one," Lorelei announced, "It has the greater signal strength, a better frequency scanner and its inductive scanner works as a long range metal detector." The fact, that Tom and Shiroi spoke of the Drones in plural made Lorelei fear, the others might overestimate her abilities somewhat. She was happy that she was decently able to fly one at a time and even though she had already used induction scanners to locate and tap on cables she had never done so remotely. She tried not to let her lack of confidence show and the larger drone launched.

She first took a sweep over the area. "I'm picking up no signals whatsoever," she reported. "Wait, correction there is one, very faint ... No, two in fact." She turned the drone and explored that direction. After a minute she added: "There is a small shack northeast of you Tom, about one kilometer. The signals are coming from inside, they are very infrequent and regular, which is why I had almost overlooked them. Definitely no communication, probably a dead-man-switch or something."

She turned around and flew back, closer to Tom, where he and George expected the base. From above she spotted a meadow, that looked suspicious. She lowered the inductive scanner. It was not like the others cared but she explained nevertheless, to break the silence: "It works basically like a hand-held metal scanner but it uses the earth magnetic field instead of creating an own. Even though the rotors are non-metallic, the metallic, rotating parts in the electric engine would disturb the scanner on close range, that's why it's on the telescopic staff ... Oh, there is something."

She flew a little lower and reported: "About 40 meters in front of you, Tom, beginning of the meadow, that is some big metal underground, about one meter wide, running parallel to the edge of the forest. Must be very big and/or very close to the surface, no simple cables, either huge pipes or maybe ... pressure plates or something?" She flew the drone forward a bit, carefully. "Okay, there is some resonance here everywhere. Probably because more metal further below earth, or maybe a thin iron webbing close to the surface ... I'm a hacker not prospector, okay? Oh, here is something heavier, directly under the surface, about a foot in diameter. Maybe a landmine?" She flew a spiral above the meadow and continued: "There are more of those, quite far apart for an efficient mine-field but I don't know what else they could be. And ... as if I had guessed it," Lorelei sounded triumphant, "right in the middle, there is something about the size of a large manhole cover right below the grass. Must be the entrance, though I see no way to open it." She pulled the inductive scanner in and let the drone rise high. The adrenaline made her fingers on the joystick a little shaky and she did not want to risk touching the ground. While the Drone was in automatic hover mode, she took a look at Shiroi's notes. "Perfect. I mean, as far as I could tell. We really need to bring a hand-held scanner for the exact positions when we attack. So ... Mission accomplished?"

The Field
Tom Gabriels

Excitement coursed through his veins even as he lay there. Following Lorelei's instructions he was able to crawl a little bit further forward. Since his telescopes had an effective range of close to 2,000 meters, he was able to re-adjust and find what Lorelei was talking about, though not at an ideal angle.

Holy Moly...

"Lorelei, WELL DONE!" he said through the COM. "What would we do without you? A job most well done."

So this was it. Some kind of a shed 1,000 meters out. A "top down" locked porthole/steel entrance about 40 meters out; this part possibly surrounded by a network of underground defensive mines (mines with a question mark) spread out.

Hmmmm what now...

"Did Shiroi get all of that? Over."

After this was confirmed, Tom calculated their options. Should they hang around or go home?

---

The RV
Shiroi Kasamoto

"Tom," Shiroi said. "We should get out. We have a general idea of how to get in. If we stay around, either with drones or with you out there, we might get spotted. I think we should call it. Get out now while we're ahead. Over. I have it all written down, Lorelei took some killer photos too."

---

The Field
Tom Gabriels

Tom assessed the options. It was tempting to stay around and see if a mob enforcer would show up and show them how to open the door. But they were taking enough risks as is. What if there were hidden cameras? What if they saw the drone? It was time to cash out while they were probably ahead.

Tom took a few more minutes to scope out the shed from over 1,000 meters away. It seemed to be uninhabited. There weren't any tracks leading into it and from what he could see from the limited windows, there were no signs of residence or recent use.

"Alright..." Tom said. "I'm going back to the RV. Standby. Lorelei, please retract the drone. Over. Out."

Tom turned and began to slither back towards their mobile base.

---

Later on, Tom returned to the van. He wasted no time in entering.

"Lorelei," he said to her. "Truly well done. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take this filthy suit off. Shiroi, want to get us out of here?"

"Aye aye," Shiroi said. As Tom disappeared into the back, Shiroi moved over to the front and restarted the RV.

Within a few hours, the RV was back on the road. While they were on the way, the antiheroes discussed their findings and what it could mean.

It was decided that the next technical challenge would be to figure out a way to open up the portal. Even approaching it could be dangerous (they would have to minimise the chances of being detected, especially if the "mines" (if that's what they were) could be activated remotely from inside the underground base). Based on Shiroi's recordings of the drone's mappings, if they were step-detonated mines, then there was more than ample space to side-step them on the way in. It was encouraging though that they didn't find any long-range cameras... but they couldn't be sure on this point.

Still... it was troubling that they couldn't get more information about the security down under... since the entire base was under the ground, just as George had feared.

The drive back to New York seemed to take much less time, perhaps it was due to the excitement of the new find. Once the antiheroes were back in town, they went about their separate ways and agreed to meet in a few weeks to finalise plans to attach The Vault. In the meantime, each of the antiheroes had plans of their own.

[Christian Confederation]

Senator Steve Johnson, Arlington Virginia
Senator Steve Johnson has been appointed by the Governor of Texas to finish out his predecessors term. Senator Rogers resigned following a Sex Scandal involving his Secretary. Now Johnson a 35 year old who has quickly moved from Waco Rep in the State House to Representing the entire state in the US Senate.
With his wife Maggie and son Peter back in Texas until the school year is over Steve is alone in DC.
The Senate
Steve arrives at the Senate office building and walks to the front desk. "Good morning sir I'm Senator Johnson of Texas." He said reaching his hand out to shake the gaurds hand. "The names Stan, It's nice to meet you Senator." The Gaurd said.
"It's nice to meet you Sam, You wouldn't happen to know where my office is do you?" Steve asked. "I do know where your office is Senator, Fallow me."
The Office
"Thanks Stan." Steve said with a smile. "Don't worry about it sir it's my job." Stan said with a laugh. "Just Steve is fine." He told Stan. "Alright Steve I'll see you around." Stan said before leaving.

The Office

Steve's office was large and comfortable, as befitting a politician of his ranking. Senators held a great deal of prestige and power in the USA, at least on the surface.

Steve was about to sit down when suddenly there came a very loud knock at the door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Steve turned around, confused.

The door opened and a person stood before Steve. The newcomer had a brazen, very obnoxious-looking expression on his face. Steve had never seen this man before. The intruder had light brown-curly hair and a very large nose, beady little eyes. The man was dressed in a grey suit and he had a blood red tie, clean polished leather Italian shoes.

Who the hell was he? And who let this guy in?

"Senator Johnson," he said in a slick and oily voice. "May I come in? Of course I can."

Rather rudely, he strolled in and took a seat facing the Senator's desk... even before Johnson himself had sat down in his own office. He had a look on his face that said he was used to being obeyed. He waved a hand, as if telling Steve to sit down in his own office.

"Come now... let's get the Gucci Talk started," he said slickly.

Senator Johnson's Office
Steve was Suprised by the guest to be sure. His staff wouldn't arrive in DC Until after the weekend and there was nothing scheduled. "Yes I'm Senator Johnson, how may I help you?" He asked with curiosity. Steve knew there was a silent alarm switch under his desk in case he needed assistance. "I must say, I wasn't expecting guests until at least the end of the week. My staff isn't expected to start arriving until this afternoon, but I assure you I'm available to help Mr.?" Steve paused unaware of the man's name.