Empire Fat

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Your employer has identified that the OPPOSITION is preparing to court an Asset BXPOACHER. If the OPPOSITION are following the usual play-book, they will switch to a forceful evacuation of BXPOACHER in ten days. You are to deny the OPPOSITION BXPOACHER. If BXPOACHER cannot be recruited, they are to be terminated.

Local forces are UNAWARE and keen to remain NEUTRAL. As such, they will not look kindly on any covert activity from either side. Plausible deniability is required at all phases of the operation. In the case of capture, destroy all identifying materiel. Extraction is likely to be political.

Detail Brief

CHERIA

The country of CHERIA is wedged between Ukraine and Georgia. The dictator, Baadur Koridze, is keen to remain NON-ALIGNED - courting aid money from both NATO and WARSAW. Much of this money has been funnelled into a wide-spanning secret police program, codenamed NINEHAWK. NINEHAWK is heavily involved in counter-intelligence operations - Koridze being keen to counteract foreign agents within the state apparatus. The CIG - Cherian Independence Guard - are openly hostile to NINEHAWK due to a round of purges 5 years ago. The conventional law-enforcement agencies have mostly been hollowed out by NINEHAWK operations. They are best considered a weak arm of NINEHAWK.

NINEHAWK has no known ██████████ capability at this time.

There is a significant White Russian minority who now make up much of the middle-class, owning many of the smaller businesses and having high representation in CIG officer roles. They are not trusted by much of the population, but the threat of revoked NATO aid keeps them safe for the time being.

Most of the population is Orthodox Christian, but there is a small Muslim minority - mostly Turkish workers, employed in labouring and manufacturing jobs. They are extensively monitored by NINEHAWK, although this may be due to concerns around unionisation rather than motivated by ethno-religious concerns.

The climate is typical to the region.

The population primarily speaks Georgian, although Russian and Turkish are common.

They operate a dual-currency system - the Cherian Dollar which is slowly phasing out the Roubles widespread in the region. This ongoing process is often stalled by inflation.

TAGSK

The industrial capital of CHERIA. Much of the population is employed by the factories. The factory managers are low-skilled, being chosen for loyalty to Koridze’s regime rather than ability. Most of the factory workers are Turkish. A large swathe of the city consists of tower blocks (engineering & architecture a gift from the USSR) which houses the workers. Crime is low-intensity but continuous. The Muslim population attempts to self-police to avoid attention. Some ultra-nationalist Cherians regularly attempt to stir up ethnic strife. Early intelligence reports have been unable to positively link these groups to NINEHAWK, but some evidence suggests external backing - primarily lax law-enforcement response and minimal sentencing.

A hybrid naval base/dock, under the aegis of the CIG, is also in the city. This unusual arrangement is due to limited access to the Black Sea - CHERIA tapers to a point, and the tip of that point is TAGSK.

We currently have minimal presence in TAGSK.

BXPOACHER

Intelligence on the target is limited - our sources have only been able to secure redacted reports. The facts we understand currently:

Those facts not stemming from the report are marked *.

• BXPOACHER is employed in manufacturing in TAGSK.
• BXPOACHER lives with a husband and two children, 8 and 10.
• BXPOACHER is unaware of observance.
• NINEHAWK is aware of OPPOSITION presence in-country, but not of this operation.
• BXPOACHER is a POI for NINEHAWK. The context for this is unknown.
• BXPOACHER has no criminal record in local law-enforcement records.
• OPPOSITION will begin attempts to rapidly recruit in 4 days.
• *OPPOSITION will terminate target 2 days after rapid-recruitment fails.
• *OPPOSITION is unaware of your presence.

Analyst note — Intelligence suggests a Turkish woman, 30-40, working in a textiles factory. If they are not a worker, they will be ‘shopfloor’ management rather than wider factory operations. Their status with NINEHAWK is due to being a community figure of note. This hypothesis is low confidence.

An operational budget of C$5000 is provided. Items purchased en-route will arrive in a shipping container in the TAGSK docks, addressed to a cover identity of your choosing.

Your entry points are as follows:

• Cover identities as Georgian citizens, over the border in a standard automobile.
• Diplomatic licence as citizens via the Embassy.
• Cover identities as Ukrainian citizens, over the border via train.

Deep insertion via aircraft is not possible this close to USSR airspace.

End of player section.

EMPIRE FAT - REF BRIEFING

BXPOACHER is one Sezen Adem - a 29 y.o woman of mixed Cherian-Turkish parentage. She works as a cleaner for a textiles factory after hours - cleaning the machines of the loose threads and scraps of fabric.
She is a potential Remote Viewer with Stress-Induced Violent Emissions (SIVE).

Her husband, Durul Adem, is a 32 y.o man. He emigrated from Turkey a decade ago, under scrutiny for (correctly) suspected membership in the underground TKP (Communist Party of Turkey). He agitates for unionisation amongst the Muslim workers, which has attracted NINEHAWK attention - but also leaves him well known in the industrial regions of TAGSK. He works in a different textiles factory.

A NINEHAWK asset, (Nazif Ece, 19 y.o Turkish-descent male born in CHERIA) assigned to trail Durul Adem, has disappeared. After trying to make contact with Sezen, a SIVE attack caused his skin to disassociate with his body. In this state he fell into the sea, passing out in agony and drowning. Sezen has told no-one. NINEHAWK are expecting a report in 4 days time, and will suspect Durul of discovering and dispatching their asset, initiating a law-enforcement led response. Sezen is trying to continue as if things are normal. Durul does not notice her stress - he is too busy with his meetings.

OPPOSITION have used ████████ to determine the identity of BXPOACHER correctly. They intended on rapid recruitment by destroying her support structure (Durul, workplace friends) via anonymous law-enforcement tip-offs. Then they will apply stressors to induce a SIVE attack which they can ‘rescue’ her from. They (correctly) believe NINEHAWK will take efforts to explain away the aftermath of a SIVE attack rather than admit to ██████████ presence without their knowledge.

If this fails they will hire local killers to murder Sezen. Her body will be left on the factory floor.

CIG sponsor several far-right nationalist groups in TAGSK to act as intelligence assets, and as such are aware of Durul Adem as a Communist sympathiser. Digging deeper, they have gained some small awareness of minor SIVE attacks (several unlikely fires) following in the wake of Sezen. They are actively looking to recruit her, but are awaiting an opportunity. She has yet to notice several Cherian youths with shaved heads following her - she is more worried about retribution from her own community.

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