Jul 15 05:12:02 108 PA - Trying to Offer Some Really Good Advice

From Chronicles

Jul 15 05:12:02 108 PA.

TRADEWINDS COFFEE SHOP

Bartholemew nods in agreement, "Well if ya need some more fire power, I'd be happy to throw a couple missiles into the mix." he smiles. "I just got back not too long ago actually, I'm not an espionage expert of any sort, but can get a gist of troop movements pretty good. If ya like, I'd be willing to trade info, up to you though."

"We'll have to talk to Gabriel about that. See if he can fit you into the plan." Erica says while she, and Bartholemew are chatting across a table at the coffee shop. "I'm sure the more info we get the better things will go. Information is often what wins battles."

Perhaps coming off of a shift from work somewhere, or perhaps just coming in, Gabriel makes his way into the shop accompanied by the pleasant tinkling of the door's silver bell. His first target is the pleasant D-Bee Tiffany, who is always present behind the counter. Despite his single-minded track, however, he can't help but hear his name, and though continuing to walk, looks for the source - identified by tone already - and waves. A "hello" is mouthed, but not spoken. Coffee first.

Bartholemew nods understanding, "All good, I'm certain he'll pop up somewhere soon enough. It'd be funny if we're working the same angle." giving a chuckle before taking a sip of his coffee. Not facing the counter, and being in the middle of a conversation, he pay no mind to the new patron jingling the bell entering.

"Well speak of the old devil." Erica says with a laugh in her voice as she nods to Gabriel. "Here you can talk to him yourself once he gets his coffee." She says before pointing towards Gabriel. "Who knows maybe you are working the same angle. Or perhaps it is something thing else."

It's a miracle!! Tiffany got Gabriel's coffee right the first time. The complicated order? "Coffee, please." Yes, indeed. Then with an interested smile, he moves toward the other two, recognizing Bart from his hair. "Afternoon, guys - lady - my ears are burning. Mind if I sit down, take a load off?" He gestures back to his briefcase, which may indeed be a load.

Bartholemew turns in his seat to face the counter as Gabe is recognized by Erica and pointed out, a grin coming to his face, "Howdy. Sure thing." he says chuckling when the man gets up to the table. "How ya been?"

"Hey Gabriel." Erica says again as she leans back in her chair. "We were just talking about you. We were chatting about what is going on up in Whykin. Bart said he had some info, and I told him you were interested in it as well."

Gabriel sets his pack down next to the chair that he's pulled out, and makes himself comfortable, smiling to both. "Good, good, thanks, Bart. Little itchy to get down an do some varmint huntin'. There's a lot going on right now, and we -" he nods to Erica "- discovered that things are a lot easier today than they were for me." He listens to Erica and nods. "Sure, yeah. It looks like a major problem, whatever the General is trying to pull. Maybe even higher than him. I was only on urban recon that day, so I can only fill you in on what Sage has said so far - and she's a nice lady, but she's not the recon type, so prying things out of her has been tough. You've been looking into the expansion?"

Bartholemew gives a slight shrug and nod, "Sorta, been watchin troop movements out near the Laramy Whykin corridor from that northern outpost. I'm always interested in any expansion attempts the deadboys are lookin to make. They got enough territory as it is, they need to go back to Chi-town and stay there."

Sasha steps into the coffee shop and takes a brief glance around the establishment before she heads towards the bar proper. She doesn't greet anyone this time through, instead seeming to be intent on acquiring a cup of coffee as she flags down the barista and orders: "The usual." in her usual cold and distant voice even as she settles onto a stool as far away from everyone else as she can get.

Erica is sitting around a table discussing things with Gabriel and Bart. She has a coffee drink in front of her. "Well I went up there myself to do some scouting. I have some good video and what not. Some numbers. Maybe they will be a little bit more useful." She says with a brief shrug. As she sees Sasha enter she nods to the two men. "I'll be back." She says before walking over to Sasha, and giving her a warm smile. "Hey. How are you doing?"

Gabriel points to Bart with a single free finger as he cups his mug, and along with the other man's final statement offers, "Won't argue with that. Tough to do, though. I can't really say that I've kept up on the Laramy area myself. Without bothering to roll out everything right now, instead of doing it as a group, I can tell you that they're expanding their borders by about five miles, give-or-take. Big bad new general in charge of the entire Whykin zone, hand-picked officers and some significant units, large ones sometimes almost right off of the Tolkeen Front. But there's one post that stands out, one real far and stuck by itself. That's what I'm interested in. Need to choose the battles you can with, right?" He nods to the other military man and sips at his coffee, watching Erica temporarily depart.

Bartholemew nods in total agreement to Gabe, and gives another nod as Erica departs. He only gives a brief glance to where she goes, not too concerned or interested. "Sure nuff. I've been watching troop movements. They got a regular run between Laramy and Whykin, couple big APC's. Learned of an interesting Lieutenant, not quite CS material by the way I've heard it. If you're any good at Black op type shit, might wanna have a chat with him at some point. A Lt. Jansen, kinda a nobody, but not totally on the up an up when it comes to the CS and contraband. Guy might be useful in your gig, but I'd be careful approaching him, I know I ain't got enough to approach him yet. Once I do, I'm hoping to have an inside guy."

Sasha takes her coffee when it arrives and begins to pour copious amounts of sugar into the black liquid while stirring occasionally so there isn't a sludge on the bottom of the cup. "Erica." She says without even looking over towards the other woman, instead, wholly focused on her coffee. "I am fine. And yourself?" Her tone polite, but without holding much real warmth even still. A last dash of cream goes into the coffee and she takes a sip which seems to satisfy her. Both hands go around her cup and she blows lightly on the hot beverage.

Erica doesn't seem bothered by the lack of warmth in Sasha's tone. She hops up on a bar stool near where Sasha is sitting, and takes a sip from her frozen coffee drink. "I'm doing good. We are just chatting about Whykin, and the CS." She says with a brief shrug. "What have you been up to? You want to join us?" She asks with her usual perkiness and smile.

"Interesting. Little contraband guy running around by himself?" Gabriel quirks an eyebrow. "Sounds like the 'little guy' part might just be a cover. I don't like the Coalition, but they seem to know their shit. Shit rolls downhill, but gold floats, know what I mean?" He shrugs it off and sips again, using a handy pocketknife to scrape something off of the perhaps unwashed coffee shop mug. "But east? Probably even more elite guys. I mean, truly hand picked, right up to the general himself. Booted out the old guy, practically replaced anyone with an important post in the command structure. But this one post? I don't know if it's a calculated risk, or a poor over-extension." He smiles and points to Bart. "But I do know that I want to make it disappear, one way or another. Tough bastards, I'll give 'em that."

Bartholemew nods as he sips his coffee. "Well, like I was tellin Erica there, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand in any venture against the CS. She was sayin it be up to you if I could be helpful in your plan. I could play backup sniper, or full blown gunner on a skycycle running interference or something. Think about it."

"It's probably a trap, Mr. Blaze." Sasha says in that same distant and cool voice without looking towards the table, "One outpost, old troops who are unimportant and on the outs with the current command structure and therefor even more sacrificial than normal troops. The tears shed over the loss of the outpost will be fake, they will use it as justification to increase their military presence even more so, clamp down harder. After all, it is obviously not safe if their outpost was attacked." She then looks towards Erica and lifts her shoulders in a slight shrug, "No change from yesterday, as to joining your friends... I am not sure I am invited as of yet after Mr. Blaze's comments to me yesterday." She smiles faintly at Erica, "You're more than welcome to remain here with me if you wish though Erica, should that be the case."

Erica looks over towards Gabriel, and gives him a serious look, before she mouths 'Be nice' at him. "It could be a trap, but the CS isn't perfect. They have poorly planned outposts as well as well planned outposts. I have a lot of info from my scouting that needs to be gone over. I am sure we can at least get some clues from that." She shrugs her shoulders briefly before turning back to Sasha, and returning her smile. "Thank you." She says before nodding her head.

Gabriel ignores the uninvited advice, and seems to know that he may well be perfectly in the right in ignoring it. Not that he makes an issue of it. "Sure, Bart. Good to have you along. I'll admit, the crew that I'd intended - that the original architect of this endeavor had intended, Vixen - is growing exponentially. I'll be happy when we can all get together and compare notes, compare strengths, and find weaknesses. I think that Sage will have some very interesting information for us."

Erica lets out a little sigh as Sasha walks out of the coffee shop. She shakes her head and frowns as she finishes up her drink. After a few minutes she walks out of the shop herself.

Bartholemew grins with the woman's comments towards Gabriel, "She does have a point. I'm still in if ya want the help, but she does have a good point." getting a good chuckle over it. "Sounds good to me. Just let me know if ya got anything on your mind ya feel I should look into. Be happy to lend the hand. I think Bella should be able to handle Lt. Jansen by herself and get some good dirt on the guy to see how helpful he can be. Sometimes the little guy can be more influential than the big bad Generals in command."

"I know, I know," Gabriel says, but politely waves off the idea. "I think that this is already getting far more complex than it needs to be. No one would go to this much trouble in time, money, effort and material just to build a trap. I mean, they know that the City isn't going to chance a war by sortieing anything against them, so it would just be against those of us who are small interested parties." He grins at Bartholemew. "Perhaps gullible and overconfident small interested parties, but still not enough to use up those resources. If there's a connection with your contraband thing and Whykin, I can't imagine what it would have to do with this outpost except maybe paying for it under the table. If you want to give the place a flyby, I certainly won't stop you; but we should probably gather first and figure out what we all have before taking another chance of having them notice that we're taking notice, right?" A grin is quickly swallowed by his mug. "We'll meet soon. So what's with Laramy? Last I heard they were just setting up a patrol with the CS. Poor bed friends."

Bartholemew gives a shrug, "Not really sure the politics, but it seems Colonel Blane Truso likes to keep things in a kind of down low feel. He's calling it a Security presence and not an occupation." sipping his coffee briefly with a roll of his eyes, "But we both know its all the same thing. They got an outpost just north of Laramy, commanded by Lt. Colonel Sam Bradford, that’s battened down like all hell, they might not be expectin trouble, but sure as hell is ready for it regardless. I'm not sure if the guy is placed by the General or anything, but he is headquartered in Whykin."

"I'll admit, I know armies, but I don't know the Coalition army as well as you do. But..." Gabriel screws up his face a little. "I can't really say. If there's something going on at Laramy, seems best to just pinch if off there right now. Rather let 'em have whatever it is that they're doing than ignore the people sneaking up behind me with rifles, y'know what I mean? Sometimes smaller is better. As for those names, it's interesting. I did a thorough recon, urban recon and with Vixen no less. Those names never came up in any way that we were looking into."

Bartholemew shrugs at his last comment, "Dunno, I learned it looking into Lt. Jansen and his platoon. Easy to get a bunch of grunts going on war stories in a pub." he chuckles, "I stuck strictly in Laramy though. The names could have changed since if the General is hand picking those in his command. I've seen a lot of troop movements between Laramy and Whykin coming from that northern outpost. Roughly twice a week a caravan goes in and out, and usually vehicles are a one for one swap in the motorpool up there, but I found three APC's that vanished, not sure where they went. Found it funny, but couldn't figure out where they went too. This happened July 1st I think it was."

"Which way were the APC headed? Actual APCs, not just trucks? Seems like it'd be tough to hide one of 'em, but I guess that it could be done. Where're the goods coming from, anyway? That northern area?" Gabriel's attention is momentarily on the fact that he just burnt the roof of his mouth.

Bartholemew replies, "Well, actually, now that I think of it, it was a small caravan of light cargo trucks that arrived in Laramy on July 1 from the trail that leads north from the town that leads to the outpost. Approximately an hour after the caravan's arrival, two of the trucks departed in the direction of Whykin, accompanied by two armed soldiers on hovercycles. The missing trucks were something else, separate thing. Like I always say, espionage is not my main game."

Gabriel chuckles and bonks his mug on the table, "Well, perhaps I'm not such an old warhorse anyway, my friend. Trying to not be places is what I do." He offers a humorous wink. "Just based on what you've said? My advice would be twofold. First, find the source. Figure out where all of the contraband is coming from, whatever it is. Even people being very careful make mistakes and oversights, and the people working with them usually have a very loud way of communicating that to *everybody*." He takes another moment to sip. "My second idea would be to search the trail. Trucks, even well-planned truck convoys don't tend to just disappear without leaving a trace. I mean, they could have been ambushed somewhere and sold for scrap. Or.. am I off base? Forget Whykin, it's probably like this outpost thing - too big for any of us right now. I'd find the source, maybe hook up with someone along the road who saw something." The older fellow offers a shrug. Sounds like good advice.

Bartholemew nods, "I gotta lay low a bit, my story for poking around was starting to wear thin. I'm hoping to be able to send Bella in to poke around a bit more, she claims to be able to find things out, good test for her talents. Maybe she can find the source, I already believe I know what the what is, Juicer drugs, that in all actuality I think are coming from here in Kingsdale."

"Juicer drugs?" Gabriel really seems to pick up on that. "That sounds like Enhancement Center stuff. Black Market stuff. The chemicals, both raw and pre-mixed come into Kingsdale from a lot of places. If there's a battalion or something in Laramy that's doing something sneaky, they'd need to be raiding convoys right and left. The city would notice it, private owners would notice it." He taps his temple twice. "I think that your 'source' is here in the city. At least as the major supplier. Not that I have any information whatsoever to back that up," he allows and trails off into a chuckle. "There was a unit that dropped into France, the 82nd. Cutting to the heart of the story, each one of them would steal one bottle of champagne somewhere. People tacked it up to a bookkeeping mistake or a random theft. But then they got all of the bottles together and sold 'em in Britain, made a shitload of cash off of it. Maybe someone read their history and is trying to pull one of those. If that's the case?" Gabriel shrugs once more. "You need to find the person - or people - who are in charge of bringing it together, from the small batches around the city. Bingo, you have your source."

Bartholemew nods in agreement, "I had that person, but he was killed just recently cause I think I was getting close. Now my only lead is the reading of the Will, and I don't have an in. My only hope now is to get the dirt on Lt. Jansen to find out who's dropping it off to him now. I'm thinking its the Lt. that got the stuff into Whykin a bit back, but I got nothing to prove it, just a hunch."

"The dead hair guy? Same guy who had his place blown up a couple of months ago? That him?" Gabriel quirks an eyebrow, and for the sake of not just blurting out a question, continues. "If you think that you had the person, then you should make sure that you really *do* know if it was him. Dead people are in many ways, much easier to investigate. They don't ask a lot of questions, right?" He chuckles a little, then his eyes search themselves for a while. His mug is set on the table and he directs a polite finger toward the other man. "Is he the guy that Bridge Beau was talking about? Because... his condo was open, right? Now *that* would be a good place to look. People often believe that their own home is an impenetrable castle."

Bartholemew nods sharply, "That's the guy, and he was involved in the drug runs, cause he duped me and a few others into makin the run to drop off with Lt. Jansen and his platoon. Not sure if the whole platoon knew what it was, but I'm certain the Lt. knew. The guy's condo is sorta open. I'm sure there is no armed guard, I'm just not a sneaky thief spy guy. I could get in, but it would be noisy." he grins.

It's a pleasant afternoon, with Gabriel and Bart off to the side at a four-place table, conversing. The older man is enjoying a large mug of coffee, and the shop is doing a brisk business. "Loud noises don't wake the dead, do they, Bart?" Gabriel allows himself an actual laugh at that. "But advice from a genuine sneaky thief spy guy?" Humorous grin. "If you don't know how to *not* be loud? Don't try. The noise of not making noise can be a lot louder if you don't know how to do it. Just... act natural."

"Maybe you need someone who can go about unseen then. Follow her employer about without ever being noticed." Valeriya's voice suggests just before she herself coalesces into view. "Although I admit that lately my efforts to sneak have been thwarted rather effectively. It's as if I’m expected at these functions and just the right measures are taken."

Bartholemew chuckles, "Sure don't, but neighbors might get nosy, it is a condo after all. I plan to scope it out, but not sure if I can do any more than that. Noise tends to make the time short to poke around. Don't get me wrong, I can prowl and sneak a bit, enough to be a sniper on the battlefield, but B and E ain't my forte." With Val stepping up out of thin air he turns with slight surprise from the unexpected appearance. "Been wanting to chat with you, got some work for ya out of town, might catch ya a break on the gettin spotted."

Gabriel does admittedly start a tad as the woman forms into view. Still not used to that kind of thing, but still pleasant and polite. "Hey, Val. Do you sneak into changing rooms and watch, too? Nah, I'm just yankin' ya. Seriously, it sounds like our mutual friend may have need of your services. Someone a little more light on his feet. Her feet," he corrects.

Valeriya doesn’t appear to get the joke Gabriel makes, confirmed by her response. "What would I want to see there?" She asks shortly before nodding to Bart. "Yeah, I've got to get a new radio with my armor gone. Hence me discretely tailing you." She offers before grabbing a chair from another table and pulling it over to seat herself. "So, what won't I be caught doing this time?"

Bartholemew chuckles, "There's a Lt. Jansen in Laramy I need dirt on, I know he's running Juicer drugs, I just need proof. It'll be out of town where no one knows ya, so they can't prepare for ya." giving another chuckle, "Sounded good when I first thought of it. Sound interesting to ya? If not I was gonna have Bella check into it. If you can help get into the hair guy's place, I could use a peek around in there."

Gabriel nods and smiles across the table, apparently the other two existing chairs were of the wrong size. "I've been listening to Bart for a while, telling me his story about some kind of contraband stuff going on. Telling him that in my personal opinion of being a snooper - albeit non-magical - I'd find the source, which based on what he's told me, is probably right here in the city. No idea who these other CS guys are, though. I'll give you the same personal opinion that I gave my military friend here - just like the expansion ring that General Rheevus is bouncing out, I think that if there *is* a connection between Laramy and Whykin, it's just too big for any of us right now. Need to deal with what you can handle, before biting off more than you can chew, right?" He looks to both conversation partners.

"Well I don’t have no intention to bite no one just yet. And getting dirt from the Coalition should be easier. They don’t employ pesky magics to null my own. It'll cost you a radio though. Probably the best way to find out where Jansen baries his dirt is to listen to him bullshit for a few days. One remote tap, no problem at all." She suggests confidently before taking a moment to consider Gabriel's words some more. "There are too many juicer shops here though, needle in a haystack to find out which one is supplying. Some easy listening might narrow it down though." She offers before giving another nod to Bart. "Sure, I won't get shot at or encounter a elite anti magic spell there."

Bartholemew nods with a grin pulling a communicator from his pocket and tossing it over to Val expecting her to catch it, "Here ya go, you get your armor situated?" he asks before going on with the topic. "The hair guy had the in, if Gabe is right, there might be something at his home to say where or who his supplier was, if not, the Lt. might know something."

Valeriya catches the radio without a problem before shaking her head. "Not quite, looking into a rather expensive set, might be selling a lot to get it." She says before slipping the radio into her pocket. "So best way to do this I think is to forge a document on appropriate radio countermeasures for a week. Planted in their forces they will then use frequencies and countermeasures I'm already aware of. Could use some input from you in the forgery Bart, you'd know if it would pass muster or not."

Bartholemew gives a sigh as he thinks on that option ending with a shake of his head, "Gonna have to be a good one I'd think. I've never seen how they give their orders like that. I can point you the guy's direction, but you're gonna have to be inventive in finding what will be useful for blackmail basically. I'm looking for him to be an inside guy and need the leverage on him before I approach him. Remember this, he works for someone not worried about killing loose ends. What he does is not really the concern, it's his worry about what his superiors will do if they find out."

Gabriel smiles, listening to the others. "Sounds like an interesting tactic. Listening in to your enemy is perfect. The Enigma machine redeveloped by a Pole during the war - go, my ancestry - the US codebreakers in Hawaii listening to the Japanese code. Navajo code talkers. See-three-eye, right? One of those Cs is communication. So it makes sense."

Valeriya raises her brow at Bart's hesitation. "Didn’t you used to work for these guys? If not then I'll have to steal an existing document to make the forgery from." She says, adopting a slight frown as she considers the rest. "Well it might be easier to frame him than catch him if it comes to blackmail."

Bartholemew smiles to Gabe and his military history that he knows nothing about before shaking his head to Val, exclaiming sharply, "Nooo! Never. I was Kingsdale military, fightin those bastards. What made you think that?"

Gabriel idly taps at his mug's lip, raking an eyebrow vertically as Bartholemew clarifies his history - and sets Gabriel's idea of the man right as well. Then he speaks. "Y'know, if you really think that this thing goes all the way to Whykin, it would be my professional experience and speculation that there isn't going to be anyone along the chain of command who doesn't already know about it. Things that are this far-reaching are rarely blackmail material. Sometimes you just need to find a good time and place to bring down the hammer, plain and simple. In fact, just yesterday I learned how simple things can be in this day and age." He smiles, shrugs and admits once more, "But, I'm only going off of what you've told me. My attention's been in other places.

Valeriya shrugs defensively. "I dunno, you got one of their bikes, seemed to fit that you were a deserter." She says, clearly unsure before shrugging it off. "No matter, I'll get the info you want and need. Sounds well withing my capabilities."

Bartholemew nods with a grin, "Ahhh. Nah, stole that, got it from the Emperor's cousins second wife’s son's best friend's roommate’s brother in law." he gives a laugh, "Was a lucky grab on the way back home one day. I get it." He gives a disagreeing head shake, "I don't know bout that entirely, dude could lose a good gig should word get to the right superior of the smuggling and they come down on him. Could shut him down for good, might be enough for some simple info on movements in the area. Gonna have to find that right officer though still too. The leverage needs to be perfect."

Gabriel remains brief, most of his attention on his coffee. "If you think that it's best. Sounds like... a lot of time, not that time can't be good. Sounds like a group of professionals to me. Hell, have you checked to see how they show up on the order of battle? A lot of armies have trained scavengers." He then falls silent and returns to his beverage.

Valeriya shrugs, as her side of it all seems set for now. "Well then I'll head out to Laramy tomorrow. Be good practice on my bike." She says, content for the moment.

Bartholemew gives a shrug, "I'm going off the News cast for sentiment towards the whole deal. If the military wanted the stuff, you wouldn't have heard about it. It pissed someone off to get it out to the public. If not the CS, then who?" giving a smile to Val, "Good deal, how's that going for ya?"

Gabriel does nothing but nod in agreement at Bart's words, not interrupting or adding. He does offer Valeriya the advice, "I know that you're a very unique woman, but if Bart's right, and my guess is right, their cover may be simplicity."

"Alright I guess. Can make it to point a to point b easily enough. Just can't attempt anything fancy. No poor road conditions for me either. And I don’t dare try the jump jets." Valeriya offers in answer to Bart before giving Gabriel a look of speculation. "What do you mean?"

Bartholemew nods in agreement to Gabriel, saying to Val, "Before you head out get with me. I'm going to that condo to check it out tonight, I'll let ya know what I might find. I gotta head out and make some arrangements." and with that he gets up to leave the pair to their own conversation.

Gabriel offers the man a handshake. "Take care, Bart. Remember, you're just a normal curious person." He winks, then turns to Valeriya. "New transportation?"

Valeriya shakes her head. "Don’t remember the scene last winter? It's the same jump bike. I don’t use it a lot as I'm not really skilled. But if I take my time I can do the trip to Laramy on it."

Bartholemew shakes the mans hand before heading off, "Looking forward to getting this pest hunt over with to set our sights on the bigger fish." he says with a smile. "See you both later."

"Ah," Gabriel says, with that subtle tone that says, 'Actually, no, but I'm going to say yes...' "Jet pack is the fastest thing that I have, but I'm rather happy with it. Get's me where I want to go, and most of the time I don't have to deal with Mothra. So what exactly are your plans up in Laramy? You want to hear an old man's rambling, or was that just Bart?" He laughs at himself, looking back to his coffee.

"Is that a trick question?" Valeriya asks, her expression skewing with conflict on how to answer it. "If an old man's rambling saves me time, money, blood, all of the above its worth listening to. Otherwise let's go somewhere that serves beer first so I can just pretend to listen."

Gabriel chuckles and begins to stand, as he knows that Valeriya isn't much for the niceties of the society in which he was raised. His coffee slides down his throat, the mug lands on the table. "Okay, beer. But not Moe's. Sorry, I'm just too old and squishy to ever feel comfortable there."

Valeriya nods, rising to follow. "The Nut and Bolt is acceptable." She offers, already striding ahead to lead the way.[[Category:Sasha]