What the…? Had Annas left his cigarettes in here by mistake? Or did everyone in this damn office smoke now? Then again, there had been quite a few people in and out of his office today. He wrinkled his nose at the offensive object as he considered what to do with it. Common sense told him to trash them, but he was certain Annas would bitch if he found them. He tossed them back on his desk and sat down heavily in his chair, waiting for his next appointment. There wasn’t enough time to start anything new and so he waited, tapping the table intermittently. He waited, and waited, and waited.
Impatience got the better of him and he looked down at his watch, sighing. He wasn’t usually a stickler about punctuation, but he was beginning to doubt that this guy was coming at all. His hand traveled the desk searching for a familiar pen to fidget with and settled on the cigarettes, perhaps because of their novelty. The texture was hardly pleasant, the cheap cellophane rough under his fingers. He opened it up and cleared his throat. Even the resting odor wasn’t too pleasant. He took one between his fingers, finding its smoothness to be much more pleasant by comparison. He placed it down on the desk, noting the vague resemblance the things bore to their coffin nail moniker. More like Lincoln Logs than nails, really. He arranged the first two horizontally and placed the remainder crossways, alternating them like he wanted to make the world’s smallest and most deadly Jenga tower. If the owner of the cigarettes happened to walk in on him, well, their cancer sticks were still perfectly intact.
The State of Play - collated twitter threads from @catullinianxvii
{Mun's Note: This is a collation of a huge solo thread between some of my twitter accounts, which aimed to itself collate a few plot threds that have been left dangling over the last few weeks. I have tagged other rp blogs when it has become relevant; e.g., yellingtheirdevotion for his tip about Sicarii movement. Hopefully this will allow people to place themselves. I hope this doesn't count as god-modding too much.
Onwards!
Catullinianxvii}
*Gaius, his centurions, and a few others are gathered in the C&C, where Gaius is gathering and briefing them on the situation vis. @BaneofEagles and the sicarii.*
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
As usual, I'll get to the point. The Sicarii are planning to hit Roman targets in the next day or so. They will likely be civilian, and likely bombs. We have several semi-independent sources that lead us to this conclusion. The main one *produces rome-lies' photos, @KnifeForAHeart passes them round the table* comes from our 'loyal ally', Kat. It appears to show Sicarii agents shifting large quantities of fertiliser from a compound into white vans. Milites Ubayer has more detail on this.
*waves @SoSaysTheCrow up*
Saloman Ubayer @SoSaysTheCrow Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII Thank you, sir.
*To the room* I received these photos in an envelope from our informant a few days ago. She seemed to believe that the information was of national import. I believe she referred to it as "selling out" her country. I immediately saw how big this windfall was, and returned at once so that we could follow up.
Examination of the photographs yielded several leads; partial nameplates, a couple of faces, and best of all, a pair of shots which show the building among the surrounding landscape. Though these two were over-exposed and slightly blurry, we were able to find enough landmarks to get a vague location; a warehouse on the outskirts of Zuba, a Kibbutz {Israeli agrarian community} a few miles west of Jerusalem.
We ran a vehicle manifest and found a couple of white vans matching the partials from the photos. In addition, the faces matched with known kibbutznik {Kibbutz-people} from the area. Both have known anti-imperial episodes in their criminal records. Crucially, Zuba has fallen short of its production quotient in the last few years. They cite bad harvests, criminal activity, and so on -
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@SoSaysTheCrow - *chipping in* But, it would seem we have a little rogue community on our hands. Thank you, Milites. Optio Targazt?
Agama Targazt @KnifeForAHeart Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII *snaps to* Sir.
*Produces Simon's evidence.* Got this from the other blond idiot we seem to put up with. It boils down to a mix of first-hand accounts and SMS transcripts with someone claiming to be the second-in-command of the local sickle cell #heh, one Michael ben Michael Sataf *produces pictures, including mugshot* - looks big and dumb, but has a very busy history - he's wanted for questioning wannabe guerilla activities up and down the eastern seaboard.
Eleanorka Akahwaye @Akkadakkadakka Sep 9
*Looking at photos, sucks in breath.* I recognise this man; I've seen Simon talking to him once or twice; got really twitchy when I called him out on it. Though that might have been 'cos I was flirting horrendously with him at the time. *sniggers from the room*
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
*Gaius and @KnifeForAHeart look at each other #Significantly*
That... changes things. Optio, do the honours and join the dots.
Agama Targazt@KnifeForAHeart
@CatullinianXVII Sir. Until Akah piped up, we were ready to dismiss this as a red herring; most of the hard facts are too tangential on their own; however, combine it with the other leads we have as an equal contender and -
*pauses, flicks through transcripts*
Here; blondie {apologies to Si-Mun - a little G-modding needed here} ran an errand for Michael where he dropped off letters to a number of addresses in the lower and upper cities. He included a list; how nice of him. He also notes that he went to the servant's entrance of the posh places, and he recognised some of the rat-run dwellers as career temps.
*looks up* I'll need to follow these up, but it looks like he came through for us, boss. Does this mean we actually have to hold up our end of the bargain now?
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@KnifeForAHeart *Snorts* Of course fucking not. He associates with the Sicarii; we don't deal with terrorists, or their groupies. Now, Centurion Akessab, you've been gathering intelligence on the Sicarii; what can you tell us?
*Centurion "Burxes" Akessab delivers her spiel on the Sicarii - main points; they have signature blades, do a lot of low-level harassment with the occasional big show, and seem to be a mix of ex-military from the days before the occupation, and amateurs. They almost certainely have contacts across the border with Parthia, though it's not known if the Parthians are actually funding them or not. They also seem to have a degree of co-operation with the Jewish state apparatus {relevant to iamlawandorder and forgettheexcuses, though it's your call how involved or not those two are, specifically. Drop @BaneofEagles a Dm if you want to discuss it}. The Sicarii have been quiet recently, though there are unconfirmed reports of a power struggle in the upper ranks, and a couple of corpses in the river #Intrigue.*
Agama Targazt @KnifeForAHeart Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII *Addresses the room.* So, to sum up; an organization formed by the leftovers of a military that stopped being relevant thirty years ago went quiet recently after a power struggle, and now we have movement of what looks like ingredients for a mass of explosives, coupled with evidence of co-ordination with locals and slaves across the city. Anyone else smell a bomb plot here?
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@KnifeForAHeart *signals him back* Thank you for that, Optio. Now, normally at this point I'd say "weapons free" and we'd go in guns blazing, but there's one more factor to consider which renders this a whole lot murkier. Akah?
Eleanorka Akahwaye @Akkadakkadakka Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII Sir. Since we had a location for the warehouse, Ubayer and I were sent to check it out; you know, us being scouts and all.
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@Akkadakkadakka And what did you find?
Eleanorka Akahwaye @Akkadakkadakka Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII Our mandate was to watch and report back. We went in civvies, to avoid arousing suspicion or spooking anyone. The warehouse was in full operation, and so we couldn't get close. We were, however, able to check out the point from which most of the photos were taken, as you'd ordered.
We found evidence of a struggle, and this. *produces small black disc* It's the lens cap of an upmarket camera; a "Nikon D610" - very flash, professional gear. Ubayer, you figured this one out - *gestures to continue*
Saloman Ubayer @SoSaysTheCrow Sep 9
@Akkadakkadakka *grins as he stands up* The chief had sent us 'cos we'd spotted a couple of inconsistencies with the evidence. For example, most of the images were of professional quality, except for the two framing shots of the warehouse, which were over-exposed, wonky - like the photographer didn't know how to use the gear. It suggested two different people using the same camera. Also, there were only a dozen photos; almost all photographers trying to collect evidence take hundreds of photos, to get as much as possible in there.
Now, it could be that our guy filtered the photos before passing them to Kat, but that seems unlikely, given that the shots don't seem that good. We only got partial plates, and a couple of extras to the play. With the signs of the struggle, and the camera lens, we were able to put some more stuff together.
About a week ago, a local hysteria rag - you know, the kind that runs headlines like "Romans communing with Elvis' ghost for propaganda advice" - reported one of its people missing. It got lost in the chatter, but Akah and I went over to the offices earlier today, and were able to ascertain that this missing guy, Elijah Hassan, used a Nikon D610 and had gone to investigate news of strange activity in the area. It seems he stumbled on the Sicarii base and was taking photos when he was rumbled and dragged off. No-one's received a ransom demand; most likely he's dead.
So what then? The most plausible story seems to be that the Sicarii looked through Hassan's images to find out how much he knew. They then selected a few - good, but not too good - supplied a couple of amateur shots to point us in the right direction, and then made sure they got to us. We can't say for certain how much of this Kat knows.
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@SoSaysTheCrow Thank you, Milites. Knowing her, I'm sure she knows something. The most pressing question now though is; "why point us to the source of their weaponry?" They even included shots to make sure we'd find it. What do they gain?
*Akah raises hand* Akah?
Eleanorka Akahwaye @Akkadakkadakka Sep 9
@CatullinianXVII Because there's no surer way of holding our attention. They're sacrificing a piece to get us out of the way.
Agama Targazt @KnifeForAHeart Sep 9
@Akkadakkadakka Hang on *flicks through transcripts again* Michael mentions a number of places he's been, out of the city - "seeing friends" here, "relatives" there - I recognize a couple of these names; they're farming communities like Zuba.
Gaius Tannatarius @CatullinianXVII Sep 9
@KnifeForAHeart So we have, what half a dozen other sources? Assuming they're moving as much fertaliser as at Zuba for bomb-making *does some rough calculations* that's going to bring down half the city - almost the whole upper city for sure. They really are coming back in style. We need to clamp down on this fast and hard. Here's the plan
11. Could you go for the rest of your life without drinking alcohol?
"In all honesty, I think I could. I don't tend to drink for anything except a buzz on a night out. And when I'm drunk, I make stupid decisions, so it would probably be for the best.
Although for the record, cigarettes are a different matter."
5. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
Dobbin's Flowery Vale – Rajaton || Yemaya Assesu – Deva Premal || Stockholm Syndrome – Muse || Street Map – Athlete || Love (Requiem for my Friend) – Zbegniew Preisner || The Swan (Carnival of the Animals) – Saint-Saens || The Riders of Rohan (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) – Howard Shore || Leaving Home (Baldur's Gate) – Michael Hoenig || Mavisim – Kemani Cernal Cinarli || The Stolen Child – Eric Whitacre
01. Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia 02. Sun Goes Down - David Jordan 03. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel 04. We Will Rock You - Queen 05. Have A Nice Day - Bon Jovi 06. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears 07. Blowin' In the Wind - Bob Dylan 08. A Rush of Blood To The Head - Coldplay 09. Build That Wall (Zia's Theme) - Darren Korb 10. Us And Them - Pink Floyd 11. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits. 12. Chances - Athlete 13. A Boy and A Girl - Eric Whitacre 14. My Immortal - Evanescence 15. Old Red Eyes Is Back - The Beautiful South 16. Never Say Goodbye - Hayley Westenra 17. Love to Love You - The Corrs*18. Bottom of the River - Delta Rae
Harry Dresden, of “The Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher
“I don’t want to live in a world where the strong rule and the weak cower. I’d rather make a place where things are a little quieter. Where trolls stay the hell under their bridges and where elves don’t come swooping out to snatch children from their cradles. Where vampires respect the limits, and where the faeries mind their p’s and q’s. My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. When things get strange, when what goes bump in the night flicks on the lights, when no one else can help you, give me a call. I’m in the book.”
- Storm Front
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Hellhounds.”"Harry," Michael said sternly. "You know I hate it when you swear.""You’re right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”
- Grave Peril
“If I need you I’ll give you a signal.’'What signal?''I'll imitate the scream of a terrified little girl”
- Dead Beat
“The man once wrote: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. Tolkien had that one mostly right.I stepped forward, let the door bang closed, and snarled, “Fuck subtle.”
