| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Victory |
| Date: | Thu, 11 Jun 1998 17:59:57 +0100 |
+++++begin video
An office, small and plain: its occupant sitting silent, head in his
hands.
He looks up as another enters: an Air Force one-star general, blonde and
handsome. "David. I just heard."
"I know." Coppinger straightens with a visible effort. "Another agent
down. Ever wondered why we bother?"
"To serve and protect the people, property and dignity of the United
Canadian and American States." Von Drexler replies.
"And do we, Mark? How am I meant to recruit a replacement for Lilith?
Tell a candidate that if they join us they'll be reviled as a fascist
killer, that they'll get the rug pulled from under them by the
politicians whenever they start to get results, and that if they're
successful they'll be targeted for assassination?" Coppinger shakes his
head. "No, Mark. We've still got Turner, he's working the Curry case,
but we will not take on any new field tasks and we'll let Turner go when
he's done with the good Colonel Curry. Assuming he doesn't get killed
too."
"What about Mitchell?" Von Drexler asks. "He seems to have been getting
results."
"Yes, he has. Half-a-dozen minor crime bosses arrested or killed, a few
drug labs and chip factories and porno parlours shut down. It's like
bailing out a sieve, in six weeks you'll never know anything happened.
Feel-good crap to hide the fact that we're helpless." Coppinger -
completely uncharacteristically - lights a cigarette, offers one to Von
Drexler who looks shocked.
"I didn't know you smoked, David."
"I quit, years ago. But right now I don't give a damn. Where should we
send Mitchell, then, Mark? What target do we have? The reason he's
hassling street trash is because we have nothing. No leads, no clues.
Lone Star could do what he's doing without our help, the only reason
they don't is budgetary: we finance the operation if our man leads, and
after last year's fiascos they are so short of cash they leap at the
chance. We could put Barney the Friendly Troll in charge of the FRT unit
and Lone Star would still be happy, as long as they got the funding."
Coppinger draws hard on the cigarette.
"There's a tidal wave of corruption washing over this country, Mark, and
we tried to hold it back. We failed. And we sent good people to their
deaths in the process. And we're hated for even trying. How many more
friends do I have to send out to be killed, before we accept that we
can't win?"
The General looks shocked. "You're saying we should just give up?"
"Yeah. Will it make a difference? Realistically, General, did anything
we did really matter a damn? The one big success we pulled off, stopping
Operation Wild Rose... well, what was that ship coming for? To take out
SIGA. If we hadn't meddled, we wouldn't have put thousands of lives at
risk. Killing Thunda? We weren't needed for that, we were just
figureheads, and our interference led to Abbadon's crusade and thousands
of innocent dead. We're the problem, not the solution."
"So what do you recommend?"
"I'm not recommending anything. I'm pulling the Agency out of field
work. No new missions, and we quit when we finish the ones we've got
ongoing."
+++++end video]<<<<<
-- Furrow <16:58:42/06-11-59>
*****PRIVATE: Furrow
>>>>>[No, we haven't. Not by a long way. We need Reaper active, for us.
Try to talk Coppinger out of his despair. I'll show him why he's being
premature.]<<<<<
-- Farmer <17:22:43/06-11-59>
*****PRIVATE: Hedgerow
>>>>>[Timescales have changed. We move, now.
Activate Phase One.]<<<<<
-- Farmer <17:23:28/06-11-59>
*****PRIVATE: the Forsaken
>>>>>[Move, and quickly.]<<<<<
-- Farmer <17:24:01/06-11-59>
