MISSION: Cleopatra has clientele all over the world and is well-known for her cleverness. However, Damiano wants to further push her to her limits - he has assigned her to organize a group of two soldiers and do some reconaissance in one of the Capulet's allies -- the yakuza. He would like to ply them with coin if he could, but even so, just to let the Capulets know that nothing of theirs is sacred or safe is enough for him. Through a self para or thread, explore Calina's decisions in acting.
date: 2 may 2019 - 12 may 2019 location: verona, italy; st. petersburg, russia; sovetskaya-gavan, russia; kurume, fukuoka prefcture, japan
There’s something to be said about being picked by il Capo to swipe Capulet business partners away from them and hoard them for the Montague name. It’s the second time he’s assigned such a mission to her, what with the first having been to steal Queen Mab from the Capulets. Akin to a dragon that hoards gold, Damiano wants the Yakuza in any way he can have them--as business partners, as mere connections, as a dog-whistle used to rile up the Capulets any time they realize they’re not exclusively dealing with the group--and Calina intends to deliver and then some; already, a plan is forming in her mind to not only sway the Yakuza away from the Capulets just because, but to pull them closer to the Montague crown and fortify trading deals between the two entities.
She reaches out to her Russian contacts. Yerik is the first she calls, what with his loyalty to Faron and herself and his honesty in regards to what he thinks about her business ventures. He acts as a sounding board as she works out her plan, going so far as to offer his own opinions when she seems to get into a rut with herself. By the end of the call, the Russian man is sold on the idea of a drug distribution center on the eastern side of the country so that the Yakuza have an easier time getting things from Montagues rather than Capulets; it benefits Calina, which indirectly benefits him. The Zaitzev’s are the next pair of people she reaches out to and she eventually wins their support, too. She settles that Yerik will accompany her crosscountry and act as her second-in-command and the Zaitzev’s will act as strongholds in Russia while she works to extend Damiano’s kingdom and her own.
With that matter settled, her attention turns to which soldiers she’ll take with her to Russia. Calina combs through the list of available Montagues, paying close attention to her own weaknesses so that she may find a pair who’ll complement and complete her rather than drag her down. She thinks of Boris and then so ardently decides to not think of him. Calina still can’t trust the man as far as she can throw him, and thus cannot pull him into a plan that is meant to benefit her more than others; he’s too elegantly cunning, too unpredictable, and far too snake-like in his decision-making. Her next thought is of Faron’s рыцарь, Grace, and this sentiment, too, is quickly chased away. Grace’s tenacity and bloodlust are unmatched, but the Sokolova woman knows, perhaps too well, that too-wild things need close supervision, and she cannot afford to waste time and energy watching Grace when there are deals to be made and clients to be stolen.
In the end (perhaps selfishly), Calina settles on two nearly nondescript soldiers who’ve yet to make a name for themselves. Like Faron plucked her from Madame Kamenev’s brothel, she will do the same for them; she will lift them from obscurity and into recognition, so long as the mission goes as planned. Like chess pieces, she collects those who will vouch for her abilities and competencies within the Montagues. She’ll use these soldiers as a buffer, a shield; she’ll make sure Cleopatra isn’t nearly as easy a target as Fortinbras, whose thin buffer of relationships clearly wasn’t enough to keep him alive.
