Chapter 1: A Matter of Time - Matthew Beckett

[Hayabusa]

OOC

Whatever you want, Shurijo. I haven't had time to look into PL updates, but I'll do it now. Expect a PM with the details.

"<Russian>That's too bad. I really could've used new until on Cobb," Beckett says as he returns with a few slices of bread, cheese and hot meat.
"<Russian> I only got an address and I hate to walk into a club without knowing what kind of people I'll encounter. Well, I'll have to improvise. What're you going to do when I'm heading for a meeting?" Beckett thinks how he'll proceed when he's in Japan. Legally he isn't allowed to carry a firearm, but he certainly won't go without one anyway. Not when he's dealing with people like Cobb and Polat and their associates or enemies.

OOC

Btw. I just remembered that Beckett probably had some equipment in the car, that he could have taken aboard. Because otherwise he won't have most of the equipment from his sheet. Are you okay with me adding it to the plane? Could be a little complicated to get his spy stuff in Japan...

[Shurijo]

Tishka replies, "<Russian>When we land in Novosibirsk. I'll use one of their terminals to download some more information. I do not have much on him. He is, what you say, a hard to find bastard. It's like his entire electronic footprint has been removed. There's only small traces of him in any system or database. Luckily, our KGB keeps old files and my contact there scanned a few and sent them directly from us. He also noticed those pages were removed from our own database as well, then he entered it back in."

"<Russian>I not stay in Japan. I do not like to leave the motherland. I can research the address when we land and if there's anything to be found, you can review it on our last leg. I'll fly the jet back to the mainland and wait for you in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. I'll set up shop there and lay low for a week or two before moving back towards Moscow."

OOC

no problem, just assume you pick up your/new gear in Novosibirsk, along with whatever fake passports and such you want. feel free to rp whatever you want at the landing, there won't be any action untill ch 2 so this is RP time

[Hayabusa]

"<Russian>Whatever you want, Tishka. You deserve a little rest after being thrown out of a hit and flipped over truck. Ah yes, and the part where a Turkish "business" man interrogated you as well," Beckett replies with a smirk. "<Russian>There's no place like home, da comrade?"

He pushes back the copilot's seat as far as it goes and stretches his limbs. "<Russian>Well, I'd rather prefer you stay at the airport in case I need to get out of there, but I guess I have to improvise then as well. And if I'm not in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky after a week, you can be certain that I'm not on my way there. It might take a while before I contact you again. As you said, we should lay low for a while. I need a rest anyway. Is it time for a nap before we're in Novosibirsk?"

OOC

Alright. I'll describe it as soon as we're there and I can get the stuff.

[Shurijo]

"<Russian> Ya. I'll wake you when we land. I have a contact there that can help with resupply for your mission. I can use one of his terminals to download some files from my remote server, so that you can review on the way to Japan." Tishka reponds.

In a matter of moments, Matthew falls asleep. The co-pilots chair is not the most comfortable position - he could have stretched out in the cabin of the jet, but the former spy must feel a bit more comfortable in the driver's, or at least co-driver's seat.

Matthew awakes from what felt like an entire night sleep when Tishka calls his name, "<Russian>Vlad. Vladimir. Wake up. Fifteen minutes until we land."

Soon, Tishka pilots the jet safely to a small runway of a former Russian military air field. Tishka makes his way out of the cockpit and onto the tarmack to be presented with two Russian men. After a few hugs and an invite to drink some vodka, a Russian can't refuse that request, Tishka agrees and walks with them into the control tower.

Tishka's given Matthew a name of a local arms and technology dealer in town and one of the men allowed Matthew to use his old pick-up truck to drive into town. Tishka has said that he trusts these men here and that the dealer in town is also trustworthy and for Matthew to show the man this coin - a coin that Tishka hands to Matthew with specific instructions to return it to him.

"<Russian>This is my father's coin. It was given to him by Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (former chairman of the KGB, died in 1982). He passed it on to me. That's the only thing that I hang onto from my childhood." Tishka explains.

[Hayabusa]

"<Russian>That's nice. If I can't return it to you, then I'll be dead," Beckett says with a wink and puts the coin in his pocket. He wonders why Tishka seems to be so sentimental but maybe it's a big relief for him to have left Moldova, too. "<Russian>Sadly Andropov was a little before my time and my father never received such a valueable item. Other than the honorable service for the Soviet Union anyway. See you later, Tishka."

Beckett walks over to the old pick-up truck and already makes a list in his mind of the things he needs to acquire for the trip to Japan. He expects that it won't be a friendly talk, especially if some of the thugs there are friends of Cobb. It's no surprise to himself that he wants to get his hands on Cobb because Beckett is quite sure that the other agent has something to do with the picture that Polat showed him. And even if he isn't responsible for it, then it is Cobb's fault that someone noticed him visiting a family near Washington DC. After entering the vehicle and slamming the door shut, Beckett grips the steering wheel for a few seconds. He urges to let Cobb's face meet a sink and trying to find out which is going to break first. But he has his urge under control and so he takes one hand off the wheel and starts the car and heads for the town. Beckett has to be ready if he wants to get Polat's boy out and find Cobb.

[Shurijo]

Beckett drives just a few kilometers outside of Novosibirsk, the location given to him by Tishka. There he finds a small nondescript building with various "Sale" and "Clearance" signs hanging in the window. It appears, at least on the surface, that the store is a novelty shop selling knock-off souvenirs and other assorted "junk."

An old man, approximately sixty or seven years old, leans on the entrance door frame smoking a cigarette. He eyes Beckett stepping out of the truck and approaching the storefront. "<Russian>What can I help you with today?" he asks.

OOC

rather than pause and wait till Tet's battle ends, we'll just keep going, might even get some combat in next week or so

[Hayabusa]

"<Russian>I'm looking for some equipment," Beckett says and pulls the coin from his pocket, showing it to the man as he gets closer. "<Russian>There's a job I need to do and I don't have the right gear for that right now. Someone said that you might have all the stuff I need for it."

[Shurijo]

Matthew pulls out the coin and shows both sides to the man, who then puts his arm around the super spy and escorts him inside. "<Russian>Friend, friend. I have good stuff for you. Not best quality, but good to help you finish your task."

A few hours and vodka shots later, Matthew is restocked heading back to the air field. His new gear thrown into the back of the truck and covered with an old blanket. He doesn't find any opposition other than local police redirecting traffic around a car collision on one of the smaller streets.

Arriving back at the plane, he finds Tishka passed out and laying down on the couch. He loads his new gear into the plane, and wakes Tishka. "<Russian> Oh, oh my head. Too many vodka shots. I will feel terrible tomorrow." Tishka says.

Matthew notices that Tishka has acquired a laptop and external hard drive which rests next to him. Finally, Tishka pulls himself off the couch and into the pilots chair. After a quick pre-flight check, he starts the engines and they taxi down the tarmack and take off. The departure was a little bumpy, but nothing more than a bad take off.

In less than ten hours, the pair will be arriving at a private airport just outside of Tokyo. Tishka had discovered that Polat had already submitted the required paperwork for the plane and paid the airport charges.

"<Russian> I downloaded some maps and info from my remote server." He mentions off hand as they pass over a deserted area of Siberia.

OOC

Going to fast forward a bit, want to get you on the ground in Japan around Monday morning so we can pick up the pace again, didn't want to start anything this week, since I was gone most of it. I'll update your char sheet this weekend and let you know if there's any problems. None expected, but just to make sure. I'll email you the updated PDF after inputting the things into Hero Lab

[Hayabusa]

""<Russian>It's good to see that you had a little spare time between the drinking," Beckett says. He would have chosen a nice suit, but he couldn't find one that didn't look too backwater. So he has now wears a simple, brown cargo pants, a pair of practical shoes and an olive sweater that will cover the vest below. He knows that he will look a little strange, but it's not like he wouldn't stick out in Japan anyway. He holds up a coin. "<Russian>You wanted it back. Did you find some useful intel?"

OOC

No problem, Shurijo.

[Shurijo]

"<Russian>It's the same stuff I had back in Moldova for you. I just couldn't remember it all." Tishka responds as he takes the coin and places it back in his pocket. With a few clicks on the instrument control panel, he puts the jet on autopilot and heads back to pick up the laptop.

After an intense amount of passwords, symbol recognition, and finally retina eye scan and fingerprint biometric scans, he's able to log into the laptop. Then he glances around the plane, as if someone might be looking, out of habit perhaps, and enters a thirty-two character cipher to reveal the encrypted data files.

The folder named "566c6164696d6972205374726176696e736b79" appears in the header and within it is displayed several sub-folders:

/Agency X
/Craig Cobb
/Ruzar Polat

Tishka clicks and brings up the first folder called "Agency X." To start, he browses through several photographs from hidden cameras and scanned Polaroids. It's hard to tell from the angles and poor quality, but these men appear very close to the guys who fired the rocket-propelled grenade at the truck and then gave chase to you after the explosion.

After a quick browse of the photographs, he brings up some files written in German and translated to Russian. The files reveal that the secret Agency operate in small teams and seek out specific people. Most of the time, their targets are brought back alive, although severely disabled perhaps. It's unknown what they do with the targets, but their renditions and capture of citizens all over the world appear to be consistent. It's assumed that there's several independent agencies scattered throughout the globe that operate at a regional level and coordinated through some higher agency, perhaps even the United Nations or a secret committee within the UN.

When he brings up the files on Craig Cobb, the photographs reveal the woman and daughter walking through the Tyson's Corner shopping mall just outside of Washington, D.C. And has Matthew recognized before, the two females are his wife and daughter. That photograph was dated about 14 months ago. A few more photographs showing Cobb dressed in a suit entering and leaving the parking lot and buildings of the NSA. The latest photograph of Cobb is tagged as of 16 months ago - about 6-8 months after the run-in with Matthew. Matthew notices that Cobb's face has a large scar down one side which only appear in photographs after the date of the Black Sea incident.

The files reveal the Cobb was an NSA analyst working on high technology related matters. He was an expert on most things that NSA values most: cryptography, hacking, network security, electronics, and intelligence. The last projects that he was working on were called Project ECHELON and Project OVERSEER. Cobb was also a member of the Threat and Vulnerability Testing and Assessment joint-agency committee.

Working in the CIA, Matthew's aware of the typical government agency cryptonyms and code names given to projects. Matthew's also slightly familiar with ECHELON program which started back during the Cold War to monitor transmissions between the US and USSR. It's later progressed into intelligence gather by tapping into other electronics such as the Internet, phones, etc.

Tishka opens the last folder and begins to flip through the files. It's shown that Polat and Cobb were working together for the last three years. Polat was used to acquire technology outside of normal channels for Cobb. It's unknown if this went back to NSA or not, but it's assumed to be part of the Project OVERSEER.