Mission 10: A Proper Sendoff

Prelude

Seven years have passed since the events of Mission 9. By and large, the ultimate agenda of the White Veil Society remains unclear. After interrogating the senator captured by the Circle With No Name and following up on information yielded, the Grass Spiders have learned that whatever the White Veil Society's ultimate goals may be, the Society is actively seeking out the Eye of Autochthon. It was noted by Nazareth that Atlas also took an interest in the Eye of Autochthon in his later days, and the Grass Spiders currently believe that the attempted collaboration between the Grass-Spiders and White Veil Society arranged by Atlas may have revolved around finding it.

For the next five years, the Grass-Spiders kept up business as usual, maintaining a low-profile amidst the changes sweeping Creation, all the while maintaining a background effort to further investigate Atlas's last dealings. The Grass-Spiders hope to uncover Atlas's reasons and steps taken in seeking the Eye, believing it will reveal more about the White-Veil Society's agenda. They have been met with considerable opposition, whereupon agents and guards would turn up at the most inopportune moments and even normally-talkative informants were tight-lipped. The efforts remained secondary to daily operations until, two years ago, Leviticus chanced upon three veteran White Veil Society agents while exploring Denandsor, attempting to find a location found sketched in Atlas's journal. Although Leviticus, under strict orders not to escalate the conflict, attempted to make a case for cooperative investigation of the site with the agents, something went wrong.

It isn't truly known who struck first, or why. It might have been personal aggressions or an offhand remark, or it may have been related to Denandsor's bizarre environmental hazards. What is known is that the White Veil agents were apparently outclassed - Leviticus killed all three. Leviticus maintains that he acted in self-defense, although he has privately expressed doubts to Rizuka, admitting his memory of the situation is fuzzy, chalking the haze up to Denandsor's atmosphere.

Retaliation came quickly. Most of the major Grass-Spider informants and associates in Nexus, Marukan, and the Hundred Kingdoms were assassinated, effectively crippling operations in those areas. This sparked the beginning of what members of the criminal underground refer to as the Veil War. For two years the Grass-Spiders and White Veil Society have been engaged in a bloody shadow war, fought in political chambers, dojos, back alleys, and smoky stock rooms.

Setting the Stage

The rules of engagement in the Veil War are not clear. Agents from both organizations encounter each other with some regularity, often without knowing it. Even when they do, the encounter rarely results in violence outright, with a few notable exceptions. Most of the time, tense words are exchanged in the guise of enigmatic banter, and the agents part ways. In the Veil War, most of the blood spilled belongs to associates of both organizations - the lower ranking members who form the foundations of their labyrinthine secret societies. This has been detrimental to both sides; more and more people are now reluctant to provide aid to either organization, knowing the fate that awaits them.

Just as most of the war's victims are low-ranking associates, so too are its soldiers. The elite of each organization are too busy to be bothered taking potshots at mortal thugs to fight in the Veil War's day-to-day struggles. Occasionally, Exalted members of each side get entangled in the conflict, but for the most part, they spend most of their time doing exactly what they always have - advancing their organization's long-term goals (in the case of the Grass-Spiders, this is carrying out contracts and maintaining their reputation as the most effective and creative criminal organization in Creation).

Presently the action of the Veil War is centered in the Scavenger Lands. At present, the Grass-Spiders' most significant "ally" (if either side can be said to have allies in the conventional sense) is Lookshy - the Order maintains a strong network of contacts here, and the long history of friendly competition between the Grass-Spiders and the Rangers has fostered a degree of transparency between the two organizations which has strengthened their bond. With that in mind, the Grass-Spiders don't want to lose it.

The Job

Client: Internal Assignment
Target: General Ibal Nevzaryan
Type: Assassination
Target background: Ibal Nevzaryan rose to prominence in the military largely through political maneuvering and academic appointments. Although he did serve in the Seventh Legion, he quickly transferred out of a combat unit and took a desk job with the First Field Force. Despite his distaste for combat, his sharp social insights made him a valuable analyst, and he was eventually able to parlay his skills into a professorship at the military academy. Here, his field of study brought him into contact with a number of prominent individuals in the intelligence community, and he maintains a vast network of influence. It is suspected that he used this influence to propel himself to headmastership of the academy, securing the rank of General, despite his never having actually commanded a soldier in combat. From there, he was appointed to the General Staff as an overseer of foreign policy. Evidence suggests that in recent years, he has had extended contact with representatives of the White Veil Society. Karal Matsudo has suggested that he is likely the primary source of Lookshy-based information for the White Veil Society. With that in mind, the Grass Spiders suspect that the White Veil Society will attempt to use him to gain a stronger foothold in Lookshy, which is currently the hub of Grass-Spider influence in the Scavenger Lands.

Taking an unprecedented step in the Veil War, the Three Elite Fiends have ordered Nevzaryan's death. Until this point, they have not issued any such directions - assassinations that took place were minor and between mortals, usually ordered by made members of the organizations in response to White Veil Society actions.

The situation is a tense one. The good relationship between Lookshy and the Order is more critical than ever in the present time. If it is known that the Grass-Spiders killed a member of the General Staff, relations would surely deteriorate. It would be ideal, however, if the White Veil Society was made keenly aware of just who they were dealing with.

Members of the General Staff of Lookshy are well guarded and their offices reside in the least accessible parts of Lookshy. Killing one discretely will likely require a fair amount of social acumen, especially someone as well connected as Nevzaryan. This is precisely why Ash and Fay were selected for the job. On the other hand, the Fiends did not forget that all Dragon-Bloods in Lookshy are trained warriors on par with the Realm's finest - it would be extremely remiss to assume that Nevzaryan is not himself among their number, and even moreso to assume that his retinue lacks the same degree of martial competence. Considering this, Zealot has been added to the team to provide additional combat strength. Finally, Naru, a former Ranger herself and expert on Lookshyan military affairs, is spearheading infiltration efforts and interacting with a few select Rangers friendly to our cause.

Critical Notes

• Karal Matsudo is a valuable ally. His team is the only one who knows the Grass-Spiders are involved.
• Lookshy is home of Creation's most powerful military and is Creation's most technologically advanced city. Furthermore, it has the highest number of Exalts per capita of any city in Creation, exceeding even the Imperial Capital. They are all fanatically patriotic and have been trained since birth to defend their way of life to the death. Public disturbances are tremendously ill-advised.
• Naru and Karal have built a reasonable outline of Nevzaryan's daily schedule. I can answer questions about this, but I don't feel like detailing the whole thing at the moment.
• Be wary of White Veil Society agents - they tend to operate with even more subtlety than the Grass-Spiders and have certainly considered the fact that Nevzaryan's death would decapitate their operations in Lookshy.
• Our good relations with Lookshy have allowed to secure gate passes to all but the innermost district of Lookshy - only these will have to be obtained onsite.
• It is imperative that this cannot be traced by the Seventh-Legion to the Order. Ideally, it shouldn't look like an assassination at all, but if it does, it should be untraceable.
• There is an added bonus if we can subtly send a message to the White Veil Society that we killed their contact, but this shouldn't come at the expense of the mission and is not required for its success. For example, it'd be a bad idea to give the Society hard evidence they could use to prove our guilt.
• Karal has called in a favor and registered the Geronimo with Seventh Legion sky patrols. We have permission to fly in their airspace and land at public skydocks (these are all located in the city's outer districts).
• Nevzaryan is well-connected, and not all of his protection may be linked to the Seventh-Legion - this also means that not all of his connections are bound by Lookshy's laws. Don't be surprised if his camp fights as dirty as we do.

Expected Threats

• Seventh-Legion Guards (Threat Level: Low to Medium, Probability of Encounter: High)
• Nevzaryan's Guards (Threat Level: Unknown, Probability of Encounter: High)
• Seventh-Legion Officers (Threat Level: High, Probability of Encounter: Medium)
• White Veil Society Agents (Threat Level: Low to Very High, Probability of Encounter: Low)

Team: Lord of the Ashen Cloud, Zealot of Iconoclastic Virtue, Fay Morgana, Naru

What the Others Are Up To

Opal and Mesa are in Chiaroscuro brokering a deal with arms dealers as a favor to Sesus Akida.

Mission Status

Job: Completed
Dates: Resplendent Air 8 - 14, R.Y. 777
Job: After some careful planning and reconnaissance by Karal and Naru the team decided the best place to strike The General was at his personal office in The Justice District. Hoping that it would be considerably less guarded than his office in The Manse or his personal residence which was guarded by personal security. The team forged documents to be added into The General's personal security regimen and assumed the role of Seventh Legion soldiers while waiting for the opportune moment. Unfortunately it never came, so the Grass Spiders did what they do best. Improvise. Zealot and Fay burst into The General's office and engaged him and his personal security while Ash cleared the hall of other guards. Ash joined in combat with the target and was able to strike a fatal blow thanks to Zealot's grapple, meanwhile his personal security was struck down as she attempted to flee. The plan was less than subtle and left the team to escape from a burning building and a district full of guards, but they used a distraction to slip into the gathering crowd and escaped without leaving any evidence of Grass Spider involvement.
Quote of the night: "I don't know why, but the wife is going to die." - Group Planning Session
Exp. Awarded: 4