[NBA] - (S)Entry

[reyak]

The annoying pinging sound continues to repeat over and over from a small black purse. "Enough...enough...!" comes the hoarse voice of Persephone as she walks from the hotel bedroom absolutely disheveled. She reaches into her purse, pulls out her phone, and looks at the screen.

She pushes her unkempt hair away from her eyes and needs to blink a few times to clear them. "Well, hell, time for another mission." She drops the phone on top of the purse and knocks over several bottles of Schnapps. She smiles a bit as she remembers how the Austrians continued to keep her shot glass constantly filled the night before.

It was a fun night until the three gents thought they would try and take advantage of the young British female. She looks at herself in the mirror and notices the blood on her forehead. She smiles to herself as she wipes off her forehead and remembers the girlish scream one of them had when she head-butted his nose.

She takes her shower, gets dressed, and makes a phone call to the airline to reserve a ticket to meet up with the rest of her team.

OOC: not sure where she fits in with any prior story so I just gave her a vacation and will meet up with the rest of the group at the airport.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Gabriella's head cocks as Ashcan answers. "Hej, idemo u Dubrovnik! Komercijalnog leta. Zgrabite svoj opreme i došli ovamo."* She pauses. "Seriously? You don't speak Croatian? Well, we're going on holiday. You may retire in a week, but that's just enough time for one more trip!"

* Hey, we're headed to Dubrovnik! Commercial flight. Grab your gear and come on over.

"Holiday, hmm? Oi may not speak Croatian, but Oi reckon Oi've picked up a fair grasp o' Colombian, these past few years. You've gotten in over your head - again - and figure you need the voice of experience to keep you from making a bags of it!"

Ashcan jots down some details. "All roight. Oi'll fly into Čilipi tomorrow and meet you at the hotel. Slan go foill!*"

Ashcan rarely flies commercial these days if he can help it - ever since 9/11, it's been increasingly difficult to carry with him the sorts of quantities of explosive compounds he needs to feel fully dressed. On the other hand, that's less of a restriction for a man with a pilot's license and his very own Cessna Skycatcher. Over the years, Quinn's learned plenty of tricks for concealing things from the average Customs inspection...

* Bye for now!

 

[Committed Hero]

"Roger. Dubrovnik? I think that is where they shoot some of that show with the knights, dragons, and backstabbing."

Hung-Ke replies to Mace before sipping the latte: "Emphasis on the last one. It's from Rudek - I'm sure you remember working for him in Trieste. Looks like more of the same."

"And you know this is more interesting stuff than anything I could promise on a date, muchacha."

 

[Piratecat]

"I swear, I can't understand a thing that man says. He'll meet us at the hotel, though." Gabriella snaps her phone shut. "And I find that hard to believe. The last date we had, we out-skiied an avalanche." She flashes a smile at Hung-Ke and leaves the room to pack. About that point, H-K notices that the top of his latte looks something like this.

Technically that was a mission, not a date. She must be forgetting the details.

Gabriella's voice carries down from upstairs. "I've texted DuBois. No response yet. I'm sure he'll meet us there."

 

[Kaodi]

Mace Hunter takes his time getting back to his hotel room. Once inside he closes the blinds and proceeds to strip off his prosthetic head piece and mustache, stuffing them in his kit which he then stashes in the secret compartment in his luggage. Briefly checking his phone for flight times he decides he has enough time for a shower before heading out.

The scene cuts out, and when it reappears it seems that Mace is at the airport. Of course, being Mace Hunter, he is now sporting shoulder length blonde hair and what appears to be a slightly broken nose. Along with his circular, wire-framed sunglasses he is outfitted in meticulously pressed tweed jacket and dress pants. Overall the effect is kind of pretentious.

A sign over his shoulder lets travellers know they are in the Perth Airport in Western Australia. Mace looks over his passport, or rather, one of his passports (this one for Victor van Steyk) and heads towards the boarding gate, leaving the camera behind to watch him as we walks away.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ashcan taxis his Cessna the last few metres into the hangar he's rented at Čilipi Airport, and shuts off the engine.

A Croatian Customs Agent waits nearby, naturally. But this isn't Ashcan's first trip to the Balkans - or his twenty-first - and he's well-acquainted with the going rate for a selectively-blind eye.

Not to mention, an official well-satisfied with his lagniappe might have information to share about any notable comings and goings in Dubrovnik in recent weeks. Rubek might have a reputation for playing it straight, but in Ashcan's experience, it's always the detail the client neglects to mention that ends up biting you... so any independently-sourced intelligence is one more chance to catch the critical omissions.

If nothing else, he can recommend the best agency to rent a van from...

OOC: I'd like to invoke the Cop Talk Investigative ability for a rapport and insight into the psyche of a Border Security dude... firstly to successfully bribe my way through inspection despite any contraband materials which might be secreted aboard the plane, and secondly to see if there's any interesting gossip he might want to share. If you'd like a Spend from Cop Talk, or, alternatively, a Spend from Network to have this be a rendezvous with a specific Customs Agent, let me know.

 

[mudbunny]

OOC: Given that Customs agents in Croatia are pretty corrupt, there is no need to make any sort of spend to get through. A simple greasing of the palms is all that is required.

Ashcan lands the plane and taxis up the runway. As he steps out of the plane onto the tarmac, he is met by a customs agent. With a smoothness that is not reflected in his appearance, $100 USD is discretely passed to the customs agent, who rapidly agrees that there are some lovely areas in Croatia that would be perfect for learning sculpting.

While chatting as the required paperwork is filled out, it becomes apparent that Dubrovnik has been quite peaceful for the past several years due to an influx of tourist dollars. That being said, he does mention that there has been an influx of Russian Mafya into the city. You also manage to discover that while city and governmental officials might be open to being convinced to look the other way, military personnel are not so easily swayed. Given that Bosnia is still in pretty bad shape, this is not surprising.

OOC: The rest of the team arrives no problems and, unless you are silly enough to try to bring a weapon through with you, you clear customs with no problems.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Despite having bypassed the commercial screenings, Ashcan hasn't smuggled an arsenal of firearms into Croatia - just his venerable Webley revolver, tucked into an inside coat pocket.

But then, guns have always been well down on his list of problem-solving tools. The results are rarely sufficiently spectacular for his tastes.

The heavy sports bag he retrieves from the Skycatcher's (non-factory-standard) (after-market) (discreet) cargo space might not be full of guns, but all the same, he doesn't intend to get too close to any uniformed beagles while toting it around!

Ashcan heads for the rental concourse to arrange a van - Rubek may be providing vehicles, but it never hurts to have your own wheels! And thence on to the Hotel Dubrovnik!

 

[mudbunny]

OOC: You all independantly make your way to the hotel, where you find your way to your rooms. Is there anything that you guys would like to do in preparation for the meeting, which is tomorrow morning at 10am Dubrovnik time?

 

[Piratecat]

Gabriella debates smuggling a gun through airport security -- not because she needs it, just because it'd be fun -- and reluctantly decides not to. She spends the flight snoozing, wondering how Hung-Ke got First Class and she got bumped back to Coach. She suspects computer-related shenanigans. The man is a wizard.

At the Hotel Dubrovnik, she suggests a few tactics:

1. Have H-K scan the other hotel guests, just to see if anyone is flagged as a potential threat (Human Terrain, Electronic Surveillance)
2. Search the rooms for bugs (standard procedure; Electronic Surveillance)
3. Learn anything else about their contact's motives or clients, if possible (Research)
4. Find out if there are any particularly obvious political or military problems brewing (Urban Survival, Human Terrain)

Meanwhile, Gabriella's going out to do some shopping and sight-seeing as she gets to know Dubrovnik -- and more importantly, that border crossing. She'll rejoin the group for dinner unless someone wants to come with.

"You know, Persephone, you're fantastic at your job but you dress like a London banker. Want to find something a little more stylish?"