HotZone

A 2017 Spec-Ops campaign started in 2007.

Characters

• Initial GM: User:Johnm
• Tag Leonards, the paranoid demo-man, played by User:Jesster
• Sascha Lutsenko, the Russian sniper, played by User:Brantdanger
• Liam McGregor, the Irish handgunner played by User:Jslife
• Jurgen Timonneh the German machinegunner played by Tom C.
• Sonny Crawford the redneck brawler played by User:Johnm
• Hugo Renaldo, the Brazilian thug played by User:Johnm
• Johnny Tam, Asian shooter, played by Antony
• Mr Wax, ex-Vatican operative, played by Clay
• Annika Petrov, Mr. Black's apprentice, played by Melissa
• Alex, Hot tempered Shotgun Wielding Aussie played by User:Brownt01

Background

Global Context

It's ten years in the future on Gurth, and the world has changed significantly in the last 20 years. America invaded Iraq in 2003, and tensions began escalating worldwide immediately. In 2008, the sectarian violence in Iraq spread like wildfire, and War in Iraq became the War in the Middle East which became the Central Asian Crisis. Long before pundits stopped changing the label, it was a world class clusterfuck. Had Russia, China, and India not united to quell the violence through diplomatic means in 2011-2012, the crisis was on track to evolve into World War 3.

This gradual unraveling of peaceful cohabitation was apparent to military leaders in numerous countries, and in fact the United States Special Operations Command presciently predicted a change in strategy would be required way back in 2006 when they issued the following public statement:

“Creating conditions where people want to live peacefully is a powerful weapon against terrorism. Direct action will become increasingly restricted as the Global War on Terrorism matures. Indirect actions of Foreign Internal Defense and Civil Affairs programs are the key to winning the war on terror.” 1

Powerful governments with awesome military arsenals became increasingly aware that wielding their power was becoming politically untenable in all but the most extreme situations. United States Special Operations Command, as just one example of a trend worldwide, quadrupled in funding and personnel from 2008-2015, but forced a significant portion of their Direct Action specialists into early retirement, and instead filled their ranks with civil engineers, psy ops specialists, administrators, and diplomats.

However, focused Direct Action operations will always be required when organized groups are willing to commit violence to contravene national interests, and so outside of government military operations, a second and third tier of operatives evolved. The second tier consisted of large private security companies, with tens of thousands of employees, some tiny portion of which could be used for “wet work” of Direct Action operations.

The third tier has evolved over the past 7-8 years. Increasing public scrutiny over and demand for transparency in military expenditures in industrialized nations worldwide has made certain operations difficult to fund through the large and somewhat infamous security corporations. However, worldwide, government agencies always have funds available for classified “black” operations, and it is here that the third tier of operatives has found its niche.

This third tier, or “SubNet” is a loose affiliation of a few thousand specialists and commanders worldwide, mostly ex-military. By adopting terrorist organizations' practice of maintaining “cells” which know little about global operations, the SubNet maintains a thick veil and appears to be nothing more than disconnected gangs of shadowy figures.

Your Team

Your group is one such cell.

You're based in Dili, East Timor, a desperately poor but relatively peaceful nation of about a million souls, 400 miles north of the coast of Australia.

You (might) come from diverse backgrounds, but have been working together the last 5 years for various governmental, quasi-governmental, and private organizations. Highlights of your activities during that period (which might give you an idea of what skills the team should possess):

In 2013, Australian Secret Intelligence Service paid your team AU$100k to blow up a warehouse in Jakarta it said contained munitions en route to terrorists in the Philippines.

In 2014, the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency paid your team US$80k to extract a political hostage imprisoned and tortured by separatist rebels for three years in the jungles of Malaysia.

In 2015, your team was paid US$200k by what was probably (you were never sure) an American CIA agent to assault a luxury yacht off the coast of Sri Lanka, and kill all aboard -- except the teenage son of a prominent local politician.

In 2016, a prince of Borneo personally paid you in emeralds worth US$100k to kidnap his own daughter, who had fallen in with a Christian doomsday cult deep in the jungle.

Throughout this time, you have also occasionally provided security for a (Contact) local entrepreneur named Malto Umbabo, primarily in the business of exporting marijuana to Australia. This activity, while officially illegal, has generally been nonviolent, and your Contact within Australian intelligence has been helpful in ensuring its smooth operation. However, one event made an impact on all of you.

On your first trip to the Australian mainland on Malto's behalf in 2015, your role was to go ashore in a rubber raft at night, and ensure an Australian gang was not lying in wait to seize the shipment as was rumored. The rumor turned out to be true, and a firefight erupted between your team and over a dozen gangsters. Team member Jack Stone, a stoic and effective American, was slain in the battle, and the rest of you might have been as well, had Malto not sent his untrained men ashore in a second raft with nothing but old revolvers to provided support and firepower. You've not forgotten the risk they took in deciding not to abandon you.

Your life in Dili is generally dull, with operation opportunities coming up only every several months. (You might have hobbies or businesses to occupy your downtime.) Operation dollars go a long way in a city where a gin and tonic is 50 cents and a blow-job is three bucks. Occasional payments to the (Contact) local police ensure little scrutiny over your activities, and you are careful not to participate in or aid any operations anywhere in East Timor.

You have Contacts that can provide air and sea travel, no questions asked.

Character Creation

You've had the opportunity to collect whatever standard firearms and TL7 ammunition you desire, as well as body armor and other reasonable military gear. In your weapons cache, you also have one SMAW anti-tank weapon with 2 rockets, and one pound of C4.

You all speak English and Portuguese (primary language in East Timor) adequately, as well as your native tongue and any other languages desired, consistent with your backstories.

200 points total
max 100 attributes
max 50 disadvantages
max 50 advantages
max 5 quirks

TL7 gear, but with enhancements similar to how we played the QRT campaign. Scrambled, hands-free communication devices with satellite uplink, Google Maps, etc.

As the curtain opens, the team is grumbling about boredom, sipping cocktails at the Tiki Bar on the beach, watching as a tropical spring thunderstorm rolls in.

What Happened

On Approach

As the curtain opens, the team is grumbling about boredom, sipping cocktails at the Tiki Bar on the beach, watching as a tropical spring thunderstorm rolls in.

A call from Hans Juergen comes in, Mambobo brings the phone over, and the party learns their skills are needed in a dangerous place. Jumbilly flies them to Aten, Sudan, where they are greeted in 112-degree heat by MP5-toting military police who inspect the papers and wave them on.

They meet with Milo Dragovich who explains the misdeeds of Solomon Mugabe in the context of world events, provides them with Dutch papers to get onto an oil rig off the coast of Somalia. Liam goes on a bender in the hotel that night, and after 1 hour of sleep, the party boards the leaking and overcrowded ferry to the rig.

Tag creates a disturbance in the kitchen and the party sneaks off the rig, swims to a gear-laden raft, and motors some 200 miles to the reedy shoreline of Somalia, just north of the city of Hobyo. Electing to stay hidden in the reeds until nightfall, the party languishes in the reeds, swatting sand fleas all day.

After dark, they obtain intelligence from a local about Mugabe's whereabouts, and set up a lookout across the street from a makeshift tavern surrounded by gun-toting revelers. A 3AM shooting incident brings them in contact with a contingent of Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)) staff, with whom they make contact the next day.

Liam tracks down Candace Mason, the intuitive MSF nurse, and they share drinks that afternoon and exchange some information. The next day, the party boards the MSF Range Rover en route to Galcayo, an inland city 120 miles away. Along the dusty way they see atrocities in progress, and African driver Marimba demands the party intervene, but in the end they continue on to Galcayo where their quarry reportedly lurks.

On the way into the sprawling crumbling city of Galcayo, the Range Rover has an mechanical problem, and after dropping off the doctor and the nurse, the party accompanies Marimba to visit the city's mechanic, Rocky Rhoades. While Marimba scavenges for the needed part, the party negotiates an intel exchange with Rocky, in the end obtaining his promise to discover when it is that Mugabe plans his next raid.

Guns Blazing

While in Rocky's garage, Mugabe's general John Zaid shows up with several thugs. Liam and Sasha take up tactical positions while Liam comes out to meet the general. Zaid inspects Liam like cattle, and when Liam exhibits defiance, Zaid attempts to fastdraw his 9mm, provoking Liam into grabbing his weapon arm and twisting him around into a painful arm lock.

Liam and Tag then drop two thugs with their silenced pistols, and Rocky checks the technical outside for additional thugs. He convinces the remaining gunman to come inside and check on his downed comrades, and gets the drop on him when he turns his back. Rocky disposes of his prisoner and interrogation of Zaid commences. Ethiopian soldiers interrupt but are easily bribed.

Zaid divulges that Mugabe intends a raid on a small community 40 miles south at dawn the day after tomorrow. The Range Rover is repaired, Marimba sent on his way, drinking begins, and sleep results.

The party leaves early the next day for the small community, befriends the locals, plays some soccer, places some explosives, and eats some fresh goat.

In the dim pre-dawn darkness, the party concludes that the village was surrounded in the night by 12 technicals, each sitting quietly in the darkness 200 yards out into the desert. Sasha effectively assassinates several drivers in the first few seconds before headlights turn on and the enemy begins moving in. A vicious firefight ensues, punctuated by Tag's explosions.

In the ensuing melee, Liam and Sasha are gravely injured, with Sasha pinned down in the center of the battle. In a quiet pause between explosions and gunfire, Rocky calls out to the party, advising them to throw down their weapons and talk. Tag hatches a plan to kill Rocky and reclaim Sasha's body using a smokescreen and a hastily constructed C4 grenade. The explosion rocks the village, blowing off Rocky's clothing and much of his skin, and when Tag emerges from the thick, oily smokescreen, Rocky is on his hands and knees, silently mouthing some curse and trying to raise his .50 to meet Tag while 3 henchman writhe on the ground behind him. Tag silences Rocky permanently, from point-blank range.

Tag then loads Sasha into a commandeered technical with the now-unconscious Liam, and races to the coast and the encouraging light of the rising sun, flat tire flapping, to seize a boat and escape the godforsaken country of Somalia.

Mugabe Snared

Fast forwarding 2 weeks. From campaign notes:

8 hours at sea means sunburned, dehydrated, blood-bathed, shot-to-hell compatriots, and when Tag spots the green-hulled Amnesty freighter (nearly 5 miles out of position), it's all he can do to keep from screaming.

Aboard, the crew of eyebrow-ringed, tattooed, dreadlocked weirdos is surprisingly efficient in handling and treating the injured. A call from the 28-yr-old blond goateed Australian hippy captain (who goes by “Ahab”) causes private Yemeni medical chopper to arrive that night and 'life flight' the party back to Aten.

Tag collects their military gear and Liam and Sasha undergo some of the most advanced care in the middle east. Shortly after checking his compatriots in, Tag receives a phone call. Milo Dragovich (swiss/austrian/german accent): “Captain Ahab told me you were hurt, and Ethiopian military is saying they engaged Mugabe at Kagilistan and caused heavy losses but failed to take Mugabe...” Tag gives a rough outline of the truth, probably concealing some facts as is his habit, and Dragovich knowingly acknowledges the partial truth and tells Tag, “That is fine. You will succeed another time. For now, rest and heal your brothers. All will be taken care of. I have arranged for you to stay at the Desert Rose (5-star hotel with icy AC and pools and prostitutes) until you are operational again.”

Tag and Sasha are lounging in their 23rd floor penthouse suite, and Liam (on crutches) is downstairs drinking Guinness and watching soccer at the bar, when Liam's phone rings in the suite. Sasha takes the call when he sees Candace Mason's phone-cam face on the screen. Candace reports that Marimba has been imploring her for a week to contact the party. Marimba has intel on where Mugabe and Zaid are going to pick up a shipment of guns and drugs, and wants the team's help to intervene.

Transportation details are worked out, with a flight from Yemen to Boosaso, a 5-seat bush plane from there to Quardo, and a taxi to Beyra (see [map]) to meet Marimba. In the busy African market square, while Sasha spots from above and Tag (in drag) mingles with the locals, Liam meets up with a frantic Marimba driving a modified VW Bus.

After relocating to an alley, Marimba explains that Zaid forced him to lead him to Rocky's hidden war-dune-buggy. The booby trap worked flawlessly, killing 4 henchmen and knocking Zaid unconscious. Marimba was able to look in the vehicle, find Rocky's PDA and learn of an upcoming meeting with Colonel Gamba in Ethiopia. He then turned to Zaid and tried to summon the resolve to kill him, but could not. Since then, Marimba has been filled with rage (and evident self-loathing).

The team loads into the VW and heads through blistering red-sand desert towards Ethiopia, bribing the military welcoming committee along the way to get to the outskirts of the city of Warder. Spying Mugabe's technicals parked outside a small military compound on the edge of town, the team formulates a plan and takes up positions. Tag (still burka-clad) wanders around the compound identifying hostiles and enters the rear of the compound to work on disabling the armored vehicle. Marimba and Liam approach the guard house and hear a lite popping sound as Sasha terminates the guard from afar, whereupon Marimba dons the guard's uniform and takes up his position in the guard house.

Liam proceeds to the small office building and eliminates the soldier therein, and then meets Tag near the barracks, wherein at least two soldiers have been spotted. Tag and Liam step inside and quietly assassinate the four soldiers in 2 seconds flat. Liam picks up the bottle of mead while Tag watches the door and notices Marimba scampering over to join them.

With Sasha relocated to the guard house and covering the entrance to the warehouse, and Tag having disabled all but one vehicle, Tag and Liam pull open the huge sliding doors. Within are Mugabe, Zaid, four Somalian henchmen, the Ethiopian colonel, and six Ethiopian soldiers. The colonel is the first to die, courtesy of Sasha's silenced rifle. A bloody flashbang-punctuated gun battle commences, in which the hostiles are all put down, and Liam and Marimba suffer serious gunshot wounds.

The team makes off with Mugabe's $50k cash and pound of pure heroin, as well as a crate of 99 fragmentation grenades, rolls back to Galcayo to receive tenderly-delivered first aid by Nurse Candace Mason.

Upon landing that night back in Yemen, Milo Dragovich gives the team their $200k balance in an aluminum briefcase and takes Mugabe into custody with the help of a huge (Dolph Lundgren lookalike) Russian assistant in a black Suburban.

The team rests at the Desert Rose for a few days, and then Jumbilly takes them home to East Timor.

Mission Accomplished.

Pirates

While Tag Leonards lounges in Kuala Lumpur, Sasha and Liam are paid a visit by fellow operative Jurgen Timonneh, a German gunner. While sipping cocktails at the Tiki Bar a month after the Somalian affair, a call comes in from friend Malto Umbabo, with whom the team entrusted the Ethiopian heroin. It seems that Malto successfully unloaded the junk for $200k, but was subsequently ripped off by pirates south of Singapore, losing two henchmen in the process -- a third, Mikey Dread was captured to guarantee Malto's return with 100 kilos of ganja (an arrangement which spared Malto his life).

Sasha assures Malto that all will be made well, and nudges the inebriated Liam off his bar stool and the pair begin preparing. Jurgen accompanies with a nonchalant shrug, "sure why not".

Jumbilly fires up the seaplane and the team is en route, arriving near sunset at Malto's anchored boat. After dark, the team rows the dinghy to the pirates' island, and approaches stealthily in a steady tropical rain, arriving a half mile inland at a modest cinder-block house. Liam goes around back, Sasha prepares a grenade, while Jurgen watches the front door. Sasha leads with a frag grenade (which gets stuck in the screen/windowsill but still does massive damage) and a flashbang while Liam slips in through the back door and assassinates the pirate watching over the ensnared Mikey Dread.

Jurgen stows the minigun and approaches with his shotgun, and engages in a vicious firefight with four pirates coming out the front door, eventually being pinned down and clipped in the leg while Liam and Sasha clear the house. One pirate escapes, a second is crippled and captured and divulges that a Singaporean called Kumar hired them to attack the boat and seize the cash, and that Kumar would visit in the morning to claim it (less 10% commission). Malto claims that Kumar is the representative of the Singaporean crime syndicate to whom he sold the heroin the day before!

Singapore Slaughter

The team resolves to await Kumar's arrival to negotiate. Mikey Dread takes one of the waterski boats to rendezvous with Malto and Jumbilly at the other island. Sasha and Jurgen set up their respective heavy weapons in the jungle, while Liam sips brandy near the beach. Eventually a huge cigarette-style boat [(img)] approaches, piloted by four stylish Singaporeans. But then Sasha spots a pirate on the beach, apparently attempting to flag down the boat. The boat slows and turns towards the pirate. Before they have a chance to communicate, Sasha terminates the pirate.

When the pirate's face explodes, the boat accelerates and turns away. Jurgen opens up with the minigun, spraying the craft from 240 yards with 60 bullets in one second. Sunlight and fiberglass and flesh and bone and saltwater and lead mingle in midair, and the boat begins sinking rapidly. Liam drives the ski-boat out and hauls one body aboard, but it's too late. All four are dead and being fed upon by tropical sharks.

During mop-up, Sasha's wisecrack about Ireland is not well received by the bad-tempered and half-drunk Liam, and the subsequent conflict results in Sasha's split lip and bullet wound to the knee.

The team re-groups and heads back to East Timor, Mikey Dread, Malto, and Jurgen by sea, and the rest by air. Sasha spends a night in the hospital to put his knee back together, while Liam and Tag collaborate virtually to research Kumar and his crew. The next day Jumbilly flies Sasha and Liam to Singapore. They stride confidently past the huge sign at the pier which reads "ALL FOREIGN NATIONALS WITHOUT VISAS MUST CHECK IN WITH SECURITY" and check into a nearby hotel in the midst of the Singaporean metropolis.

After a day getting their bearings (and changing Sasha's leg bandages), the team makes their way to the Elephant, the seedy bar owned and operated by Malto's old friend Chung Luck. After some small talk, and becoming acquainted with local escort Annalise, they ask Chung Luck about Kumar and request that the bartender call him in. With some surprise, Chung reports that Kumar is on his way over straightaway.

Suspicions aroused, Liam decides to break away from Annalise's scintillating conversation and head back to the hotel to retrieve equipment. Sasha takes on the task of entertaining Annalise and engaging Kumar's crew in business banter upon their arrival.

After Liam deposits Sasha's rifle on the roof across the street, he approaches the front of the bar just as two huge black SUVs race up and screech to a halt outside the bar. Four stylish goons emerge from each and race into the bar, but Sasha has relocated to the ladies' room, so they spread out and start asking questions. Annalise intervenes and explains that the businessmen who want to see them have stepped out but will return, which Chung Luck confirms nervously.

Meanwhile, Liam approaches the two henchmen outside the door, fast-draws, and silently assassinates both with shots to the brain. Sasha tells Liam to wait a few seconds for some civilians to exit the back door, and then Liam tosses a flash-bang into the center of the room. A firefight commences thereafter, with Kumar raking the wall near Sasha's head and Annalise being caught in the crossfire. Her leg crippled, she hysterically calls for help as she bleeds out onto the bathroom floor.

Liam methodically picks off targets while Sasha staunches the wound on Annalise's blood-slick thigh. Sasha emerges from the bathroom, sneaks up on the final hostile, and shoots him twice in the face. Chung Luck recovers from the stun grenade at this point, and grabs a shotgun from under the counter, but Liam talks him down.

Liam picks up Kumar's Glock-18s, Sasha picks up Annalise, and the threesome heads back to the hotel.

Halls of Justice

(new name for the beach house in Dili)...

Liam and Sasha collect their gear and load Annalise into Jumbilly's plane and head back to East Timor. Over the next few days, Annalise receives medical attention, Sasha heals and works out, and Liam collaborates with Tag to develop a partial dossier on the Singaporean syndicate run by Charles Gok Tong, including names and photos of 37 individuals (9 of which the party knows to have been killed recently).

Annalise returns from hospital to find Sasha in the gym and Liam on the phone with Malto in Jamaica, who reports that his lieutenant Tommy Cho called him asking about his white mercenary friends and also where exactly Malto was staying. Malto found it odd, and disconcerting - but it could have been the ganja.

Sasha and Liam pay a visit to Tommy's apartment, and bribe the building manager to let them in (with a failed Fast-talk roll). Hours go by, and beer and leftovers are requisitioned from the fridge by the elite team.

Malto calls and is clearly being hunted by assassins, but gets cut off before any conclusion is reached.

Finally, Tommy arrives, enters the apartment, and is quickly disabled and disarmed. However, moments later the front windows explode and automatic weapons fire fills the room with splintered wood, chards of linoleum, and powdered wallboard. Sasha squeezes off a few rounds at one attacker, causing him to duck; Liam slays one of the goons and awaits the other's assault after Sasha dives to safety.

On a gamble, the attacker dumps 16 rounds in a 4-yard arc along the kitchen wall, but only one bullet manages to graze Liam's face, causing a bloody but superficial wound. The attacker is slain efficiently thereafter.

After collecting the Singaporean attackers' cell phones, weapons ([HK PDW]), and wallets, the team compels Tommy to accompany them back to the Hall of Justice, where a stern interrogation ensues. It is learned that Sajeev Makesh leads a Singaporean contingent of 8, 4 of which are already en route to Australia for a planned sabotage of Malto-initiated and Tommy-led drug deal. The other 4 were intended to help Tommy take Malto's 'throne' by any means necessary during the Australian deal.

Annalise heads down to the interrogation basement/utility room with grilled PB&J sandwiches for everyone during the interrogation. What a sweetie.

The team decides to allow Tommy and Sajeev to meet. Tommy is rigged with a wire, dropped off and followed. After a 25 minute detour into a live-sex club, Tommy emerges, visibly drunk, and walks 8 blocks into an industrial zone. He sits at a bus stop and waits while Liam and Sasha get into position.

Sajeev's black Lexus pulls up, and Liam and Sasha assassinate the drive simultaneously. Tommy leaps from the vehcle and draws his .357 snub-nose; Sajeev, in the back seat, opens the passenger-side door but does not emerge. Liam approaches cautiously and tosses a fragmentation grenade along side the Lexus. The vehicle rocks violently, its windows evacuated. Seconds later, a flashbang in the back seat renders Sajeev both wounded and stunned. While Sasha covers the scene, Liam takes both into custody...

Assault on Gok Tong

Back at the Hall of Justice, Liam installs Sajeev in the basement torture chair and prepares for the interrogation (with a pipe wrench and blow torch). Sajeev quickly breaks and confirms Tommy's story that the Singaporeans sent an assassin to take care of Malto Umbabo and sent Sajeev's team to ensure a (relatively) orderly transfer of control of Malto's mini-empire.

Tommy Cho, Sascha Lutsenko, and Annalise watch Paris Hilton's new reality show.

After the team goes through some aborted electronics work and strategic considerations, Charles Gok Tong calls Sajeev's phone and Liam answers. Gok Tong knows everyone's names, but also mentions Jack Stone. Gok Tong explains that the only way to ease tensions will be to undertake two missions; the first is the Australian sabotage, and the second is to be executed in Kuala Lumpur.

At 5:45 AM, Liam blindfolds Tommy and drops him at the docks where he is to join the crew and the merchandise for the Australia deal. Tommy is instructed to call the Australians' gang leader Fletcher Drake and arrange for a change in location, but to do the deal as normal, with no betrayals. A shaken Tommy is thankful for his life.

Upon Liam's return, Annalise is making coffee wearing nothing but one of Sasha's t-shirts. What a sweetie.

The team calls Jumbilly and prepares their gear for a trip to Singapore. Sajeev is left in the basement with a gallon of water and a warning that the entire house is rigged with C4 and that to leave the basement would result in his instant disintegration.

Aboard Jumbilly's seaplane and 15,000' over the sparkling blue Savu Sea, Liam calls Brad Feld, the team's Contact within Australian intelligence. Feld begins researching Gok Tong and promises to be back in touch soon.

Gok Tong calls at 7AM, Sasha answers, and asks how the seas are. Sasha insists the seas are calm, and that Tommy is not available to come to the phone right now. Sasha taunts and frustrates Gok Tong, but leaves it strategically ambiguous whether the team is following instructions or not.

On approach to Singapore near noon, Feld calls again and says he's learned that Britain's MI5 intelligence agency has recently taken an interest in Gok Tong due to some profiteering in British arms, and has recently sent one of their agents to deal with the situation. That agent is James Stirling, and he's staying at Pangkor Island near Kuala Lumpur.

The team unloads at the Singaporean docks while Jumbilly puts on his headphones, lights a joint, and kicks back to read Maxim.

The team checks in to a seedy motel to plan next moves, and instructs Annalise to get herself a different hotel and some nice clothes. Another tense call from Gok Tong leads the party to believe their location has been traced, and they immediately board, taxies, buses, and bikes to a different low-end hotel 5 miles away, just outside the downtown business district.

From the $1k/night Ritz Carlton, Annalise calls to report she's ordered champagne and is in the middle of a foot massage.

The team calls the Pangkor Island resort to leave a message for James Stirling. The receptionist mentions he's part of the Gok Tong party, which raises the team's collective eyebrow, but they nevertheless leave a message concerning an alliance based on a mutual enemy.

The team instructs Annalise to get herself a date organized with one of Gok Tong's henchman, which she does with expertise and elegance, and is able to report back quickly the security code needed to exit the elevator on the 55th floor of the 95-floor Gok Tong Tower, the location of Fire and Ice, Gok Tong's exclusive discotheque/restaurant. She also reports that the henchman mentioned that Gok Tong himself is going to be in for cocktails early that evening, and that the entire security regiment is on high alert. What a sweetie!

James Stirling calls at 4:30, confirms the party's SubNet affiliation, and says he can contribute some resources to an assault: he can jam the video monitoring system for up to 12 minutes just after 5PM, and he can arrange for a British satellite to disrupt all wireless transmissions in the building, but he won't have time to additionally organize a power shutdown. Tag requests building schematics and ascertains that he has enough C4 to take out both the main power array for the building, and the diesel generator below it.

The team loads up and heads for Gok Tong Tower, with a brief detour to Walmart for business attire and briefcases. Tag walks down the ramp of the parking garage, where the power equipment is located, and bribes his way past the guard to place his charge. At 5:02, Sasha and Liam enter the building lobby as hundreds of office workers pour out onto the street. Confirming that the video surveillance equipment is jammed, they board an elevator and push the button for floor 52 to buy some time for Tag to complete his mission.

The doors open and 40 office drones try to board. Liam raises a hand and explains they're still going up, drawing moans of frustration from the overworked button-pushers.

The doors close and Liam hits 54. The doors open and two henchmen with shoulder holsters are outside. Again, Liam politely explains they're going up. The doors close. He hits 55.

The elevator stops and a recording plays: "Restricted floor, please enter security code." And again. And again. And again.

Finally, as Tag's charge is ready, wireless devices go dark, Liam punches in the code, and the building rocks and lights flicker as the elevator doors open. The first two henchman are quickly dispatched by Liam's silenced Beretta as he and Sasha exit the elevator. Sasha tests the service entrance and then prepares a frag grenade as Liam tosses a flashbang into the disco. Despite the power outage, the thumping music plays on, powered by the paranoid sound engineer's backup batteries.

A vicious firefight ensues (exactly where the team is most at home), resulting in the deaths of over 20 henchmen and Liam catching a bullet through his boot. Curvaceous Jasmine Angeline narrowly avoids being mutilated in the crossfire, and Charles Gok Tong is critically shot in brain, but not killed.

Meanwhile, Tag has chosen to steal the 4-door Toyota hybrid instead of the Lambo rocket-car, and sits in panic traffic in the parking garage.

Liam and Sasha lift Gok Tong to his feet and limp down 55 flights of pitch-black stairwell, knocking screeching civilians out of the way as necessary. Wireless networks come back online, and a meeting place is arranged with Tag.

As emergency vehicles approach, the team rendezvous at the Toyota and race back towards the docks by way of the Ritz Carlton to collect Annalise. Jumbilly fires up the props, and the plane taxis away from the dock and takes off. Once aloft, Liam calls James Stirling and a transfer is negotiated and meeting place arranged.

The team arrives at the uninhabited tropical jungle island first, and Sasha takes up a sniping position 30 yards from the beach. Tag and Liam drop the limp Gok Tong in the sand while Jumbilly lights a joint to share with Annalise.

Minutes later, a luxury yacht approaches, with James Stirling and Mai-Lynn Gok Tong (daughter of Charles and ex-wife Esmerelda, daughter of the King of Thailand) sitting on the deck sipping champagne in the golden light of sunset. Stirling boards a mini-jetboat and glides ashore gracefully, looking dashing in his white tuxedo and sunglasses.

Stirling looks to Mai-Lynn for guidance. Looking somber yet lovely in her multi-color sarong and white bikini top in the glistening evening sun, Mai-Lynn gives her assent, and Stirling slowly produces his Walther PPK. Liam expresses an interest in interrogating (or at least humiliating) Gok Tong, and Tag produces smelling salts to bring the injured crime lord to consciousness. His eyes lolling independently of one another, Gok Tong calls out for Kumar, his previous security chief slain by the party a few days earlier. Liam squeezes out a single silenced 9mm round into Gok Tong's eye, and the man's life is extinguished.

Afterword:

The explosion and shootout at Gok Tong Tower makes international headlines, and media accounts report that controversial businessman Charles Gok Tong had been trafficking in illegal guns for some time, and that an arms deal gone sour had resulted in a Anarchist insurgents in Jakarta sending the hit squad which caused the havoc. In addition to over 20 of Gok Tong's henchmen, the entire hit squad was also slain in the bloody mêlée. Singaporean leaders are careful to thank British embassy officials for providing logistical support in the aftermath of this grievous terrorist attack. Media accounts further report that while it could take months or years to sort out which pieces of the complex Gok Tong business empire are legitimate and which are criminal, Charles' sole heir Mai-Lynn Gok Tong will likely inherit something more than $450 million in assets.

Two days later, back at the Hall of Justice, while Annalise does aerobics by the pool to 80s-era Madonna, a scrawny and tired-looking Malto Umbabo shows up at the door. He explains that during a midnight shootout in the resort, he boarded a jet-ski and fled out to sea. Fifty yards from shore, the assassin's explosive crossbow bolt hit the engine, causing an explosion that threw Malto from the craft and knocked him unconscious. Miraculously, he awoke a mile down the beach with second-degree burns, broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Afraid of alerting anyone to his survival, he stowed away on a cruise ship to the Bahamas, and then cashed out one of his anonymous Swiss accounts to charter a plane back to Dili.

Later that afternoon, James Stirling calls to inform the party that Gok Tong's assassin had gotten in touch with Mai-Lynn to arrange for payment now that Charles was dead. Under Stirling's guidance, Mai-Lynn set up the meeting, and Stirling was there to neutralize the assassin. The plan went flawlessly, and Gok Tong's assassin is no more.

Columbian Adventure

Months after the Gok Tong affair, Sascha is contacted by an American contact called "Smith", who requests Sascha come to Houston, Texas, to meet up with another SubNet operative, Sonny Crawford.

The three meet in an airport cafe and eat donuts while Smith informs them of their mission: the destruction of a Columbian drug lord's jungle compound. The two charter a plane to Panama City and head immediately for the docks, where they requisition a purple speedboat and, with the help of local dock worker Reuben, jet out across the water towards Columbia.

Out of sight of shore, it comes to light that there's not nearly enough fuel on the boat, and so two stops are made. First, at an elaborate mansion where Sonny breaks into the boathouse for fuel (but leaves cash payment), and next at a village further along the coast.

Upon reaching their destination, the team forages for mangoes and chinchillas before pulling some beers out of the cooler and heading inland towards the compound. Reuben is left behind.

The compound is fenced and well guarded. The team decides to split up, with Sonny assaulting the guard house and Sascha making his way to to the watchtower. Sonny successfully blasts his way in, but a bullet finds its way into his skull, leaving him swooning and wild-eyed for the rest of the adventure.

Meanwhile, Sascha ascends the watchtower and begins dropping targets at will, but a foe with a grenade launcher forces him to come back down. On the ground, more violent explosions cause a piece of shrapnel to sever Sascha's leg and leave him unconscious and bleeding.

Sonny staggers to the helicopter which is preparing to depart and ends the pilot and clambers on board. A foe within opens fire from point blank range with an AK-47, and Sonny narrowly escapes death by dropping to his stomach in the cargo hold of the chopper. Then, he lunges forward and lands two devastating punches in the shooter's groin, knocking him out cold.

Sonny proceeds to vandalize and destroy various buildings, still staggering and covered in blood, before collecting Sascha and escaping in the chopper. They seek medical help in a coastal village and then make haste back to Panama City and the US of A.

Mission Accomplished.

Turning the Tide in Penang

Again, bored at the Tiki Bar, watching the palm trees on the beach, lazily sipping cocktails, when the call comes in. It's Brad Feld, and he advises a call to a contact in Penang. Sascha Lutsenko makes the call to Anil Bok, and is asked to hold for the Deputy Minister.

Hours later, Sascha and Tag sit at Zaki Zain's private residence in the mountains of Penang Island along with his Special Assistant, Julie Thai. A Japanese gang, the Bleeding Sun, has overtaken the Chinese sector of the metropolis, and threatens to expand its bloody reach. The government's hands are tied due to political and corruption reasons, and so Minister Zain has taken the extraordinary measure of hiring the team to take care of this messy business.

After securing a cash advance, a vehicle, and explosives, Sascha and Tag decide to check out the Chinese district, in particular the headquarters complex of apartment buildings, right away. Sascha invites Julie to come along, but she declines, instead offering to meet for dinner and drinks tomorrow night.

Near the headquarters, they wander into a live sex club badly translated to 'Youth Theater', bribing the bouncer on the way in to waive the pat-down & search requirement. When a meeting with the owner is postponed, Sascha enthusiastically observes the boa constrictor show and receives a lap dance from a young woman while Tag sits in the back and sips a cheap beer.

After negotiating a bloodless passage with the armed bodyguards upstairs, the team learns from the owner that a Bleeding Sun lieutenant will be dropping by in the morning to collect "protection money", and that the owner resents this fact, wishing that Ping Li and his men would rise up and throw out the Japanese. The team decides to seek out Ping Li but needs a translator to navigate Old Town, and hence they rent Sara Cho for the night. Sascha and Sara head back to the car and get to know each other, while Tag confirms his suspicions that they're being followed. Tag turns the tables and sneaks up behind the follower, a Bleeding Sun goon, and ends him quickly and quietly, subsequently using his victim's own tie to rig a fuse on the bad guy's SUV gas tank.

The team heads back to the island hotel and checks Sara her into her own room as Sascha's niece, catching a few hours of shut-eye before driving back to the mainland to find Ping Li.

Sara, sporting jeans and a modest blouse (instead of the 'naughty schoolgirl' outfit from the previous night), works the crowd in the Old Town farmers market, and finally the team locates Ping Li in a dirt-floored basement beneath the market. Sascha has deduced that the next reasonable action for Bleeding Sun will be to expand in the Bumiputra sector, which Ping claims will result in inevitable defeat for the weak Bumiputra faction and a substantial territorial expansion for the savage mobsters.

Back in the market, Tag spots Bleeding Sun goons, and minutes later, all three of them are bleeding out an alleyway as the market erupts in chaos and Sascha re-holsters his weapons.

After stopping by the Youth Theater to slay more mobsters and transition Sara's one-day-rental to a $1000 permanent transaction, the team heads into Bumiputra territory and enters their headquarters, convincing the leadership that an attack is imminent. Julie checks in from a helicopter at 22,000 feet and reports that a convoy of Bleeding Sun SUVs is approaching through the tangled city traffic, and Tag and Sascha take up firing positions in empty apartment rooms.

At 1000 yards, the convoy stops, blocking all traffic behind it, and a red-scarfed Bleeding Sun general steps out and looks up at the speck that is Julie's helicopter. A moment later, Julie begins frantically reporting that the helicopter is going down, and she continues to provide frantic updates throughout the subsequent firefight.

The convoy approaches within a reasonable range, and Sascha begins blasting SUV targets, causing disarray and panic; more than a dozen goons scatter from the vehicles, and Tag and Sascha methodically hit them with various grenades and gun them down as necessary. As the gun battle winds down, Anil Bok calls, and asks that the team blow up the center SUV, as a government chopper is now in position to video the event. Tag helpfully uses a massive chunk of C4 (expertly applied), and blows the SUV 50' in the air, a spinning fireball of twisted metal.

Victorious, the team returns to their hotel to get cleaned up, and dines poolside with Sara and Julie, who reveals that she killed the traitorous helicopter pilot and was able to (barely) land the craft herself. Julie spends the night with Sascha in the executive suite, and Tag hacks the cable box in Sara's room to get Nickelodeon (and 1000 other channels, some of are not appropriate for children). If they'd watched the news, they'd have seen that the government had finally listened, and really done something positive about the violent crime problems in the Bumiputra sector.

In the morning, Julie is off to work, and so Sascha orders up two new companions from the front desk, and both he and Tag decide to spend an extra day relaxing in the hotel before flying back home to Dili and the Hall of Justice -- Sara's first airplane ride!

Tsar Bomba

A typical evening of cocktails on the beach with old contact Hugo Renaldo is interrupted by a call from Annalise claiming that there is someone waiting for the team at the Hall of Justice. Frustrated with Analise's lack of intel on the situation, Sasha and Tag head back and pass their beach house(drive-by style with weapons hanging out the window) to discover two black SUV's and a group of six sturdy, blond-haired fellows all wearing black suits and sunglasses awaiting them at the front gate.

The two drive around back to the “secret entrance” and Sasha gets on the intercom while Tag dons a hoodie, black sunglasses, arms himself with his shotgun, and takes position on a balcony. The men outside specifically ask for Mr. Lutsenko, setting Sasha back on his heels for a moment, and inform him that his services are needed for a mission of the utmost urgency. To show their good faith, the men leave their sidearms on the pavement outside the front gate. They then proceed to carefully pick their way across the driveway avoiding every third brick along the way (which they had been erroneously lead to believe to be booby trapped by Sasha).

Sasha opens the front door and immediately recognizes the musclebound Russian standing in the doorway as one of Milo Dragovich's bodyguards. The man introduces himself as Taras Belova, a former “employee” of Mr Dragovich. Taras explains that he is now working for his uncle, Kirill Belova (a seemingly important military official), and quickly gets to the point: Russian “rebels” have taken over a Cold War nuclear weapon silo that secretly houses the world's largest thermonuclear warhead. He believes that the rebel forces intend to detonate the bomb in or just outside of the facility, causing catastrophic damage to several newly established military bases in the area, not to mention hundreds of heavily populated cities that would easily reside in the nearly 200-400km blast radius. The after-effects would also devastate numerous populaces around the world, as tsunamis from the shock-wave rocked shorelines for hundreds of miles.

Mr. Belova requests the team's immediate assistance in regaining control of the facility by eliminating all hostiles before they hack the somewhat dated security systems which, Taras believes, will be within the next 10-12 hours. Due to the secrecy of the weapon, direct military intervention is not currently an option - most government and military officials do not even know of its existence and too many questions would be raised. And based on past successes, Mr. Belova believes that the team will handle the mission with discretion.

After a somewhat awkward parlay between Sasha (who would just assume let the Russian military blow itself up) Taras convinces him that the greater good will be served with their intervention – the offer of one million Euros for each participating team member seals the deal, and the team is whisked away via private Leer to Dikson on the northern coast of Russia. Stewardesses are violated, the silo schematics are reviewed, and supply lists for the team are phoned ahead on the plane ride, then there is a brief 45 minute stop in Dikson before all the necessary equipment is acquired. The team immediately proceeds to the red-light district, where Hugo and Sasha partake of the local delicacies while Tag diligently works on his homework.

Unmoved by the abusive conditions in the brothels, the team heads back to the airstrip where Sasha mentions to Taras that he would like to “acquire” one of the local girls (Natasha), and a deal is struck between the two. The team is then flown via Mi-24 Hind within a few hundred meters of the underground facility and dropped off with their new gear.

Their freezing night-time trek toward the snow-covered pyramidal structure soon reveals a single entrance: two large blast doors that have been completely blown asunder. Inside, they discover four slain facility guards, flashing red security lights, and all of the electrical equipment in the security checkpoint destroyed. The team moves deeper in to find the utility elevator, fully powered and operational, waiting at their current level. Sensing the apparent danger of riding a potentially loud and slow-moving open platform to an ambush, the team instead attempts to use a maintenance shaft below the elevator. Tag successfully picks one of the shaft's exit points, only for Hugo to discover that the entire rail assembly beneath the platform elevator is coated in a thick layer of gear grease.

The opts to move down to the final maintenance exit point to avoid a 70m slip-n-slide on grease and gears, and manages to carefully navigate the remaining way through the assembly to the elevator landing room, lit only by flashing red security lights. Before they are ambushed, Hugo spots something moving amongst the crates ahead, and when Tag goes to investigate, gunfire erupts from hidden rebel soldier. Four concealed rebels in total armed with AK-47s enter the fray, and the team manages to easily kill them all (though Hugo has a narrow miss with a frag-grenade at his feet).

The remaining security doors in the facility have all been hacked, and lead the team to the control room on the 2nd floor per the schematics they reviewed earlier. The sealed control room door is remedied easily by some of Tag's high grade explosives. Playing a tactical advantage, the team simply lobs several grenades into the room, killing and/or stunning most of the rebels within. Sasha single handedly dispatches those that remain after the grenade assault while Hugo and Tag take a moment in the hallway to consider standing farther back the next time they throw a flash bang.

All seems well until a final sneak attack by a single, over-muscled rebel wielding a mini-gun dismembers Miron and sends a wall of fiery, hot lead toward a stunned Hugo and Tag. Fortunately, Sasha saves the day with a single burst from his weapon, tearing the unarmored rebel to shreds.

Hugo and Tag come out of their delirium to find that Miron is not completely dead, and usher him into the control room while tournequeting his wounds. They quickly learn that the rebels had not successfully hacked the security systems and the warhead had not yet been armed.

Taras is contacted and the team is flown back to Dikson to gather their payment: one million Euros each and a teary-eyed, hopeful Natasha wearing only a bright pink bow. On their return flight, Taras video conferences in from clean-up proceedings at the facility and praises the team's overall success; especially their cleverness for avoiding the utility elevator which was rigged with enough explosives to decimate the entire entry level of the facility...

Pirates and the Princess

The winter rains don't stop the team from whiling away the days at the tiki bar. The call comes in from Brad Feld.

It seems that Roger Austin, an Australian media mogul and billionaire, developed an online relationship with the daughter of a high-level Chinese diplomat. She decided to defect and was smuggled away from a Hong Kong shopping trip to his Seafaris yacht, which was in the city to pick up a fine art purchase and some cutting edge security equipment destined for Austin's plantation outside Manila.

Eighteen hours ago, as the ship coasted to a halt so the crew could get some sleep, pirates in a speedboat apprehended the yacht and gained control of it. Before being taken, the crew sent an international distress call indicating the attackers were armed, and the Chinese military is mobilizing in response, though details are unknown.

The Mission: rescue the girl, the crew, the art, the ship, and security equipment, in that order, by any means feasible, and get into Filipino waters 100 miles east before the Chinese military gets there and makes a mess of things.

The Offer: $500k per man, per objective.

The team flew towards the South China Sea and heard additional intel from co-pilot Arana Aramoana, who says the only way to approach the yacht is via parachute from 40 miles away. The group suits up with helmets and oxygen masks and reloads weapons with frangible rounds, and prepares to jump. Just then James Stirling calls, and tells them that his friend and fellow MI6 undercover operative Elizabeth Diamond is also on board. Before the conversation goes further, the aircraft's communications are scrambled by Chinese satellites and the call ends.

Elizabeth Diamond

A peaceful high altitude parasailing journey commences, and as the group approaches the well-lit craft, Mr Wax aims and fires, missing with his first six rounds and then finally dropping the shirtless pirate on the back of the boat. Unfortunately, Wax then overshoots the deck and drops into the sea as the rest of the team alights upon the craft.

Johnny Tam wastes no time at all, and slays 3 pirates mere seconds after landing. A frenzied gun battle commences, but the malnourished pirates put up little resistance and soon the walls are streaked with blood, a bit of which is from Johnny's crippled left arm.

Back on board, Mr Wax kicks in a 5' circular window and introduces himself to Elizabeth Diamond and the crew of the Mr. Austin's vessel. Donned in a white bikini, she asks for a weapon, and Mr Wax produces one. She begins hunting as well, with Tag Leonards at her side.

Outmatched and outgunned, the pirates begin to jump overboard and start swimming for their speedboat, but not before the leader unloads his Skorpion into the engine compartment. With Sascha Lutsenko and Mr Wax picking off stragglers, Tag inspects the damage, which is catastrophic. He adds C4 to the mix.

Lizzy finds the girl, Mimi Zho, hiding in a kitchen cupboard, and Sascha announces that a helicopter and navy ship are approaching, and begins assembling his sniper rifle.

The team decides to escape on the speedboat, and so begins consolidating the art and security equipment cargo while Mr Wax eliminates the last of its owners and then rows the dinghy out to the escape vehicle. He throws the bodies overboard and spins the craft around while Sascha assassinates the co-pilot and pilot of the circling chopper.

As the helicopter crashes into the sea, the Chinese navy gunship then issues a stern warning, translated by Johnny, and the team knows time is short. Clamoring into the speedboat and hurling the last of the cargo onboard, the team speeds off as the Chinese anti-aircraft guns begin ripping the yacht to shreds and Tag's C4 detonates. The enormity of the explosion masks the speedboat's escape.

Before reaching Philippine waters though, the speedboat runs out of fuel. Tag converts a pair of white phosphorus grenades into makeshift jetpacks, and the gets the craft surging forward again, far enough to be spotted the Aussie navy vessel awaiting them a few miles away.

On shore in Manila, Elizabeth Diamond nods to the team gratefully and makes an elegant exit. Young Mimi Zho pledges to visit Johnny Tam at the Hall of Justice one of these days.

Brad Feld checks in, expresses Roger Austin's gratitude, and confirms final details on the transfer of funds to each team member.

Mission Accomplished.

Stealing Back the Loot

The scene opens with Tag Leonards and Sascha Lutsenko sitting at the Tiki Bar, nursing mild hangovers with fresh drinks, and idly watching some tourist girls apply sunscreen to one another.

Beach girls outside the Tiki Bar

Bartender Mambobo is just bringing a second round when a battered red taxi pulls up in the gravelly parking lot.

A white man in his early thirties wearing a beige sport jacket jumps out and walks briskly toward the team smiling and waving. This is Bobby Blakely, who says he works for the American State Department, and that his boss, a "Mr. Black", is wanting to hire the team for some work well suited to their skills.

Once on board his private plane, Mr. Black introduces the team to his apprentice, Annika Petrov, who shows the team the weapons cache to choose from. Mr. Black proceeds to explain the need for the team's involvement.

Abdul Tabir, an up-and-coming drug warlord in Afghanistan and Pakistan, doublecrossed a massive CIA-arranged heroin deal, and with the help of Russian snipers, decimated the Blackwater-run entourage; a sole survivor, Karl Marvin, was shot in the eye but escaped to tell the tale.

Abdul Tabir, Drug warlord, Entrepreneur

The military pursued the aggressors as far as the Tajikistan border, but then stopped, due to concerns about recent Russian involvement in the country. Hence, an off-the-books team is needed.

Mr. Black's plane flies the team to Kabul, Afghanistan, where they switch to a military helicopter transport after meeting up with their translator (and bodyguard, she quips), Kali Sira. The chopper takes them to a remote village near the border, where an Army captain provides an armored Suburban, recently taken from a regional warlord.

Bulletproof Afghan Suburban

The team drives through what remains of the night and crosses the border easily with Annika's silently delivered bribe, and drives for a long day into the remote high country.

The next day, as they crest a mountain pass, they see a jeep half in a ditch on the side of the road, and four Russian soldiers. Annika stops short, but one of the soldiers waves them forward. Not suspecting the team can speak Russian, the soldiers spill the beans that they intend to seize the vehicle. Annika throws the Suburban in reverse, Tag tosses a frag grenade out the window at them, and the soldiers dive for cover.

Annika loses a headlight to a roadside boulder, but positions the Suburban so that Sascha can get a clean shot. Kali, weaponless, buries her head in Annika's lap, while Tag prepares a rocket launcher.

Moments later, the soldiers and an unfortunate Tajik tribesman are dead, and a Russian cellphone full of text messages provides the intel that the jeep was en route to a rendezvous at a dead end where they were to confirm Abdul Tabir's claim of possessing a massive load of heroin and cash. And, that they had two European hostages, just in case.

The team drives on into the high country, and after dark it begins to snow. Five miles from the rendezvous, they park the truck and proceed on foot, Tag obsessively stopping every 15 yards to scan the road ahead and mountainsides above for enemies. His caution pays off, and he spots a sniper at 800 yards. As the team discusses tactics, a shot rings out and narrowly misses them.

Tag identifies a cliff face that will keep him concealed and put him within 100 yards of the sniper, and so he starts climbing while the rest of the team hides out in the gully below. As Tag reaches the top, he breaks a sturdy branch, slips, and finds himself wedged between two rocks. He also spots three trucks coming down the road towards his compatriots below.

Sascha takes up a position back down the road a ways, where the team's footprints in the fresh snow veer off into the gully. The trucks stop there (having a minor fender-bender in the process), and then the firefight begins. Tag's well-placed frag grenade blows up two of the vehicles, sending Afghan militiamen scattering, easy targets for Sascha and Annika.

Meanwhile, two foes the sniper and his spotter, fall to another of Tag's well-placed grenades.

Kali and Sascha both answer Tabir's calls for status reports to the convoy and sniper respectively, with adequately convincing aplomb.

At the rendezvous site, Annika sneaks in and sizes op the opposition while Tag prepares the rocket launcher. One cabin, and a large carport with two flatbed trucks piled high with cargo, between which fifteen militiamen stand around a barrel fire.

A moment later, blonde hostage Elsa Danube is led from the cabin to the outhouse on the far side, and then it's on:

Elsa Danube

Tag blows one SUV atop the other, sending a wave of concussive force, debris, and flames into the main contingent of militiamen, sending them flying. Annika mops up survivors with her new Desert Eagle.

Sascha and Kali, who can barely see in the dark, take up a position atop the grated helipad, and Sascha begins sniping exposed heads and sternums. Tag fires his last rocket, but it sails high, clearing the slanted roof of the cabin and exploding dramatically on the mountain wall beyond.

Sascha and Kali take advantage of a brief moment of silence to get to know one another better. In the dark. On the helipad.

Tag drops the launcher and sprints through the snow towards the melee, but sprains his ankle in the dark.

Annika ducks into the cabin and lays waste to a remaining Russian, and then to Abdul Tabir himself with a grenade, but not before she hears him speaking on a radio: "They are attacking right now! Bring the helicopter, we need air support!"

With all foes dead and a shaken Elsa Danube collected, the team prepares for the helicopter's arrival. Tag booby traps the helipad with a colection of frag grenades, and the rest of the team hides out. The Hind 24 arrives, turns on the floodlights, and circles the base for a minute, looking for targets, and then lands on the helipad.

Tag triggers the trap just as 7 armored soldiers pour out, sending them flying. Sascha ends the pilot's life, and begins the task of loading up a few tons of heroin onto the damaged chopper. The cash is in a pair of Toyota Sequoias, and so some time later, the team rolls out, with Sascha and Annika flying the chopper, and an injured Tag and Kali driving the cash trucks.

After a long drive they are greeted at the border by 6 Apache helicopters who ascertain the team's mission and guide them on back to Kabul.

After a couple days of R&R, Sascha Lutsenko and Kali Sira head for Nepal for some sightseeing, Annika Petrov rejoins Mr. Black (somewhere), and Tag Leonards heads to Bombay for ankle surgery, followed by some weeks of recuperation, tended to by Sara Cho, Annalise, and Natasha back at the Hall of Justice.