So...is everyone waiting for me to do something???

Actually, I wasn't. I've got the beginnings of a plan, and I think I might want to try something before his buddies show up.

Where is our car in relation to the General's? (asking Gregor if I don't already know)... What type of security does Big n' Ugly have? Can I get on the roof of the train?

And most importantly, did anyone bring surveillance equipment?

Description of the train cars: (Back to front)

Caboose (C): Your standard caboose, where the conductor and a few of the senior crewman (like Gregor) sleep.

General's Car (GC): Opulent with two seperate seperate entry/exit points. 1 for the crew, 1 for the General and his personal staff.

Personal staff of the General
While he usually travels by himself, he does take along with him a personal valet and a "secretary". Gregor tells you that the valet (Ivan) is ex-military, probably a former officer under the General's command. His "secretary" is blonde bombshell named Tatyana. Tatyana's skills are probably limited to the horizontal variety as Gregor points out that she can barely form coherent sentences let alone take dictation. She typifies the russian phrase for "dumb blonde"

Following the General's car is the dining car (Diner), also with a seperate entrance/exit apart from the General's.

After the dining car are the four regular passenger cars. Your's is P3. Each car has 4 (a,b,c,d) cabins. You are in P3a.

The engine is a diesel with a crew of two.

<C=GC=Diner=P4abcd=P3abcd=P2abcd=P1abcd=Engine>

As for accessing the roof of the train, sure...you can do that. There are exits at end of each car with a narrow overhead opening at the intersection of each car. Artis might have some trouble wedging himself up and on the roof, but someone like Jessica could shimmy up and over with no problem.

Gregor could probably get you some surveillance equipment and have it ready for you by the next stop. I suppose it's time to repost any budget/gadget point expenditures (use the Q-Branch thread for that).

(Edited by Dieter at 10:00 am on Oct. 3, 2002)

I suppose that was the polite form of an asskick for me. Yeah, yeah, I'm at it.

Gatac

I have some surveillence equipment in my personal budget, but we probably need more.

Ok, the deadline for all budget points expenditures is Sunday night.

Monday morning we will pick up with the storyline.

By the way, Jess can be found in what passes for a bar on the train, fuming internally over Artis's carelessness.

Just in case you need her or something

Gatac

I already made my mission expenditures clear, right?

I think Harry's going to make his way over to the bar car for a nice martini.

Oh, Would it be okay if in addition to my normal fedora I had one of those russian fur hats for when it gets real cold?

Quote:

Quote: from Threadbare on 9:21 am on Oct. 8, 2002
Oh, Would it be okay if in addition to my normal fedora I had one of those russian fur hats for when it gets real cold?

Uh...sure. There are any number of babushkas selling fur hats on the train platform. Feel free to be fleeced...er, bargain with them.

I'm watching the General because I'm deceptively sneaky when I want to be.

My tentative plan (not right now, mind you, unless it's somehow easier to pull this off in public, which I doubt) is to bug the chopper with a tracking device. Hell, maybe a video bug too. I was thinking later on once the train is in motion, I could sneak up onto the roof and get back there.

Secondly, it'd be cool if we could affix an audio bug to the cap of whatever vodka bottle Gregor is bringing him later. I think the bugs are small enough. If it's completely obvious that the cap is bugged, then we can do something else.

I didn't have Jess asking because I myself was curious; I just wanted to illustrate that she believes herself justified when she views Artis as diplomatically incompetent. (Or, to put it more bluntly, it's a good thing he's not the group's faceman.)

Gatac

Ok, I'll be pulling things together in my next post.

As for the bugging of the General's vodka bottle, someone will have to make a successful "hide" roll to properly place it out of sight/make it inconspicuous.

How about just giving it to him ? I figure Jess could pull it off if she accompanies it with the usual psychobabble drek (I'm sorry for my friend; He's embarassed, and asked me to bring you this as apology). If he needs to deposit it somewhere without opening it, one could add "I suggest you keep it closed; I'd like to start it with you later."

Who says you can't take advantage of some residual sexism ?

Gatac

Wait a second, I just noticed something - our Koskov can't be the one from The Living Daylights, or ?

Gatac

Hmm....he could be....or is he? I guess you'll have to do some investigating to be sure.



(Edited by Dieter at 9:57 am on Oct. 9, 2002)

....moving right along???

Bueller?.....Bueller?....Bueller?....

OK, I think we're about ready to go. When we were outside the last time, how many people met the General? What kind of helicopter is it?

To refresh my memory, where are we going and how far is it still? Did we learn that the people meeting the General are Uzbekistani or is that my overactive imagination?

Referring everyone to this map. We'll say you're about halfway between Samara and Orenburg...your destination being Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

You estimate that there are at least two guards for each of the 3 suits that got on the train with the General.

The people (the suits at least) the General met were most likely Uzbekistani.

As for the helicopter...here it is.

Well, shit. We have to figure out something to do in the couple thousand miles between us and Tashkent.