TimeZero – Session Two (07/05/2015)
Andy #1 as Waverley Goldstein: A Jewish American from the early 90’s. He eschewed a place in his family’s prestigious dental practise in favour of donning a mask and wrestling under a variety of colourful personas. He was recruited to Time Guard after crossing a Triad element looking to fix the outcome of his fights.
Andy #3 as Margaret Geller (aka Miss Green): Equal parts seductress and spy, she is as deadly as she is beautiful (which is very). Joined Time Guard rather than face the firing squad in her own era. She was born in Holland in the early 19th century.
(Andy #2 was absent this week, so Matt Finish was sidelined until his player’s return).
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The team extract their prisoner to TimeZero and hand her over to Goldstein and Green for questioning. They interrogate the woman, using a strange – but undeniably effective - bad cop / sexy cop routine. Marana reveals that the Uffizi operate out of the Palazzo Vechio (Florence, Italy) in the year 2040. The man at the top is billionaire playboy Edwardo de’ Valfierno, who funds Triad operations in exchange for the few things that money alone is insufficient to acquire (like the Mona Lisa). Neutralising de’ Valfierno will majorly disrupt Triad operations throughout the timeline and Frank Tavistock issues new orders to that effect.
Meanwhile, Matt Finish comes down with food poisoning and is carted off to the medical building to have his stomach pumped (again). That’s what happens when you englut yourself on meat pies from eras without food hygiene legislation. Not that Matt minds, his visit to medical will grant him another chance to hit on the attractive Nurse Nightingale.
Also meanwhile, Red and Mordecai kick back in Alf’s Bar and raise a flagon to another successful mission. The bar operates just like a Viking mead hall and is tended by Alf Egilson, a retired Time Guard operative recruited from what is now Scandinavia, 812AD. Alf tells them that he will soon wed his beloved Olga and wants their help convincing the technical office to turn the blind eye to an unofficial jump to 812AD, so that he can hold his stag night in a real Viking mead hall. Red is enthused by the notion and agrees to speak to the technicians on Alf’s behalf.
After being briefed by Tavistock, the team head through the timegate, emerging in Florence, 2040. They are disguised as tourists and make a beeline for the Palazzo Vechio in the Signoria district of the old city. The bottom two floors of the ancient edifice have been converted into a museum that is open to the public during the day and the team have a good look around, taking more interest in the layout of the building and placement of guards than the artwork on display.
Mordecai notices that his team are not the only visitors disinterested in art. Several non-descript men and women are watching the Palazzo Vechio with the predatory attention of raptors. An international art thief himself, he is familiar enough with Interpol and its agents to recognise a stake-out when he sees one. This development makes Mordecai nervous, his own criminal enterprise has placed him high on Interpol’s most wanted list in 2040 and it will complicate the mission should he be recognised.
The museum closes and the team retire to a restaurant with a good view of the Piazza della Signoria. Goldstein notices a car pulling up outside the Palazzo Vechio, disgorging a crowd of scantily clad women who are ushered into the museum by the Uffizi men on the doors. He asks around and learns that this is an almost nightly occurrence. Apparently, de’ Valfierno has a weakness for both fine art and skanky girls. Miss Green certainly has a skanky side and the team decide to exploit it. They give her a bulging bag of lira and send her shopping for a boobtube and clear heels. Meanwhile, Mordecai creates a profile for her with the escort agency that de’ Valfierno frequents for his filthy trysts. Due to her supermodel good looks, it is unsurprising that she is invited to the playboy’s next revel.
A limousine picks Miss Green up the following night. The driver collects several more women before dropping them off at the old palace. They are escorted inside the museum and packed into an elevator that ascends to de’ Valfierno’s private suite, within the bell tower. The Italian playboy is stunned by Miss Green’s beauty and tries to impress her with a suave display of braggardocio. He leads her through his private gallery, showcasing the stolen Mona Lisa (recovered from the dead drop beneath Notre Dame) and other pieces of artwork believed by historians to have been lost centuries ago. Having forgotten that her only job was to slip away from the party and let the rest of the team into the building, Miss Green allows herself to be seduced. de’ Valfierno proves to be a surprisingly vigorous lover. Miss Green is fatigued.
Once again, Mordecai laments that his team cannot seem to control their base, carnal impulses and focus on the mission for more than five minutes at a time. Having already imbibed a considerable amount of limoncello, Red makes for a passable drunkard as he staggers up to the Palazzo Vechio. The guard stationed beside the entrance steps forward to block the pirate’s path and gets sucker punched in the throat for his trouble. The unfortunate guard’s ID card opens the front door and the rest of the team filter into the darkened foyer.
The elevator station is guarded by a couple of Uffizi men. Red tries to lure them away from their post, while Mordecai and Goldstein lurk in the shadows. Red’s ninja skills are a little rusty and the guards open fire. Gunshots ring out throughout the museum, soon to be complimented by the shriek of an alarm. The team gun down the first wave of goons and move up to the elevators, which are already on their way down, spilling more Uffizi men into the fray. Goldstein picks up one of the dead mooks and uses the corpse as a meat shield, absorbing the opening barrage of small arms fire as the lift doors open.
Meanwhile, in de’ Valfierno’s lavishly furnished bedroom, two sharply dressed women in business attire drag the playboy from beneath the sheets and hustle him towards the elevator. Miss Green tries to follow, but one of the two women backhands her across the room.
‘That was like being hit in the face with a pipe!’ Miss Green thinks, not for the first time that evening.
Mounted on the adjacent wall (between a suit of antique samurai armour and a collection of kabuto masks) is a collection of Japanese katana. Miss Green takes one down and swings it at the women who just struck her. The blade cuts deep, but the grievous wound almost immediately begins to knit itself back together, glistening like liquid metal. Too late, Miss Green realises that de’ Valfierno’s two personal assistants are actually advanced Synths from the far future, almost certainly assigned by the Triad to protect their golden hen. The woman headbutts Miss Green, bloodying her pretty, button nose – then drives the katana through her breast! Miss Green goes down, horribly injured.
The rest of the team reach the rooftop of the Palazzo Vechio at the same time that de’ Valfierno and his second bodyguard appear from the base of the bell tower. The Italian playboy makes a dash for the waiting helicopter, whilst his Synth guardian delays the intruders. Goldstein grapples with the woman, manages to heft her over his head and throws her off the roof! She hits a sports car parked below, crumpling the roof and shattering the windows. Mordecai shoots de’ Valfierno in the leg before he can get to the chopper. de’ Valfierno surrenders, but the mission is not over yet!
To be continued....
My character is good at fighting and persuading - your character is good at persuading and fighting.
