Realistic or Modern The Lionheart Agency

[Sylvio]

Nikolai Bykov was making his way from the medical block of Lionheart HQ, he ran into Noel Charleson who had a worried look on his face. By the time he saw him, he shook his head and they started walking beside one another. "Sorry they couldn't make it." Noel said to his colleague.

"Comes with the job. Did you hear back from them?" Bykov asked in his thick Russian accent. "No, not since they checked in 50 hours ago." Charleston replied, "Espionage agents usually check in after 48 hours at least."

"You're paranoid. You haven't done deep cover for months?"

"We don't do deep covers in Lionheart which is what I'm concerned about. What if they've been compromised." Noel's voice nearly trembling. He never lead anything from the comfort of a disclosed HQ that was only known to 1,200 people give or take. "There isn't much we can do except wait Noel, the most we can do is wait. That's why we got new operatives, we're going to meet them now."

chou SleepingSwan Spiderverse Worthlessplebian

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Jiro with a clean shave and ironed clothes was eager to meet his new boss; leaving the army to join this agency was a tough choice, making him wonder whether this choice was the right one to be made so he hoped that the agency was all it's cracked up to be, really hoped. While waiting for the boss, he surveyed the other recruits, a 5'4" red head who looked a bit on the young side, making Jiro wonder why was someone so young here. The next recruit to catch his eye was the plain woman with amber eyes, judging by her body language, Jiro was sure this woman had seen combat, lots of combat and was eager to see her mettle. The next one was a Danish man, another brother-in-arms, at least he assumed. "Soo.... what's your story?" Jiro asked his fellow recruits.

(A bit short, hope you don't mind.)

 

[Sylvio]

Daniel was in his quarters sitting at his desk playing a decryption game that was made by some analysts over at NATO. He was sweating as he neared the end of decrypting a sentence until he finally finished and made his way to the floor's conference room for a debriefing. He was one of the first as it would seem, there were a few empty seats which probably signified there were more to come. He sat close to the front and was waiting for his superior to walk in. Bykov met every operator before they were put in the database, smart way to make connections like that. As the door opened he turned his chair to see a man join the room, clean shaven, and built. Daniel turned back around to face the front until he heard the soldier speak.

"Daniel Jensen, Danish Army and Security Service. Now part of Lionheart Operations, what's yours?" he said to Jiro.

 

[Spiderverse]

Ji-Eun had been made aware of the Lionheart Agency by a few of her fellow operators, mostly out of curiosity as to why the agency itself was created. An international counter-terrorism unit, founded by NATO and other governments when most countries already had organizations like this at their disposal? It must have been something extraordinary that it had to offer, missions much more dire than what she may have seen during her time with the 707th, and that was quite thrilling to some extent.

The morning of her introduction to the agency, Ji-Eun had taken a while to decide what she would wear, what kind of impression she had wanted to make. A business suit would make her appear uptight, something too casual however would make it seem like she didn’t take this seriously, so something in between was put together. A hooded black cardigan over a white blouse that had been tucked in dark pants, along with black combat boots. It was certainly a combination, and one that made the woman’s eyes stand out much more. When she had arrived in the conference room there were already a few present, and scanned those that had entered after with her eyes. With most of them being silent, the one who had walked in and immediately started a conversation was a welcome change of pace. The man near the front introduced himself, Daniel was his name. Daniel. Dah-nee-l. She adjusted herself as she continued to try and sound out his name in her mind, left leg crossed over the other while her thumbs slowly rubbed her smartphone. She had kept her eyes on the two, wanting to keep track of the conversation in case she had been called out. Ji-Eun’s eyes squinted slightly, nose and cheeks rising slightly as she did so. Danish Army. And he’s apart of Operations just like her? Then he’s a face to remember. Immediately afterward her gaze focused on the other man who started this conversation, slightly curious as to where he himself had hailed from, all the while she remained tight lipped and expressionless.

 

[SleepingSwan]

The Lionheart Agency was truly something, a real job from cut from prestigious cloth. That's what it seemed like.
And apparently employed real prestigious people to boot! Three workers who all appeared so... seasoned? Was that the right word or did that just make them sound like Thanksgiving turkey?
Whatever the case Fawne hoped they would all be in her field until she heard one wasn't. Then she hoped she would at least have one in her area to learn from. Still green and with a lot to learn meant that mentor would be best. She smiled, watched the group, and waited to meet the boss. Better make a good impression she thought.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Jiro nodded in approval to Daniel's response, sitting down behind him but not too close to the Danish soldier. "The name's Jiro Falkenrath, US Army, pleasure to meet you sir, what's your thoughts on the agency?" Jiro expressed himself calmly albeit with a hint of curiosity, he still hasn't assured himself this was the right move but having an experienced personnel to solidify his decision would lift some weight off his chest. Jiro himself thought that it was a bit silly to doubt himself like this but that's how he felt at the moment.

"I just like to get a feel for this place, you know?" He added towards his question. He out of habit started tapping his right foot which shelled in a tightened grey combat boot.

 

[Sylvio]

Daniel smiled seeing himself a little in Jiro. He shared his doubts somewhat. "Before I joined the security service I had my doubts when I was given the transfer. I didn't know how I would fit in or if I would survive. But that's the job right? Fake it til you make it. I think that's the saying right?" He asked looking skeptical until he returned Jiro. "But right now you have the opportunity to work in an international agency, think that'll look really good on your resumé. Don't you think?"

He looked to Fawne and Ji-Eun nodding his head to them and smiling.

 

[Sylvio]

Time had passed and both Bykov and Charleson made their way in the conference room. "Alright, allow to be the first to congratulate you all on being the selected agents to carry out this task. I'm Noel Charleson head of Espionage at Lionheart, for those who don't know me."

"And I'm Nikolai Bykov, head of operations."

Charelson spoke next using the projector on the wall. "You probably know a little about what our main objective is, but now it's time to give you all the details. Last year, a group of Russian ultranationalists have been building their military forces up in Siberia, Intelligence has been tracking their movements and so far we've seen them staying put. But we have noticed something going on thanks to our contacts in the FSB. Last night, our analysts found out Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad was seized by the ultranationalists and that they're using it as a base to ship weapons to buyers interested in Russian hardware."

Bykov took over, "We'll split into two teams. Operators will be team Hunter and espionage will be team Stalker. Hunter will be deployed 2 km south of the main terminal and destroy a cargo plane that's making a shipment at 04:00 hrs. Stalker will infiltrate the main terminal and find the logs of all the flights that have taken off from the time of occupation: 21:00 22/8/2010 - 04:00 23/8/2010. That way we'll have an idea of where these weapons are going to and if they have a connection with Michael Ryan, Director of the CIA who we believe is conspiring against the president of the U.S. Any questions?"

 

[Worthlessplebian]

"Yea" Jiro replied to Daniel after which he slightly shifted in his seat taking a more relaxed posture in it. He waited for his new boss/es to arrive in the conference room to give them the briefing which of course they came, eventually.

The sniper operative listened intently and began mentally noting the important details for the mission, an op on Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad, ultranationalistic russkies, and etc etc, for him this was standard specforce work which didn't really surprise him until the Director of the CIA was mentioned, Jiro was actually stunned for the first time, he hasn't been this stunned since his days as a private but nonetheless he signed up, he was here and they showed up, it would be kind of foolish and bad mannered to up and leave now.

"Yes sir, what's our extraction method?" Jiro proclaimed.

 

[Spiderverse]

Ji-Eun continued to eye the conversation between this Jiro person and Daniel, her eyes still shifting between the two of them as they spoke. It was quite an interesting conversation, especially considering how easily the two seemed to open up to each other and discuss the prospects of this Lionheart Agency. The woman had leaned in slightly, her back no longer pressed against the back of the chair and her head now resting quite comfortably on the palm of her hand. When Daniel had looked back at her, the mixed female was about to wave, left hand rising quite slowly in hesitation. Just as it was about to reach its apex, their superiors had entered the conference room, immediately forcing her to put her hand back down.


She listened quite intently to their presentation, eyes scanning the projections intently for any details that may have been revealed through it. Ji-Eun leaned in much more, her head rising slightly off of her palm as all of her focus was centered on Nikolai Bykov, as the head of operations. He was her new superior during her time at the Lionheart Agency, and what an assignment to be their first endeavor. Nikolai. Ni-coh-lie. As Jiro had proclaimed his question, the quiet woman raised her hand as well with a particular question in mind.

 

[SleepingSwan]

Fawne took the cue of smiling as a sign to scoot over and introduce herself but her new bosses stepped in and she sat back down. Russian ultra-nationalists, hijacking airports, arms dealing, and bad actors in the homeland, eh? Sounded like quite the endeavor. Intel gathering flight logs seemed easy for intelligence agents, but for her to get in and find them would likely be difficult. She looked over at her fellow agents thinking they seemed so cool headed about all of it. Watched them ask their questions and wondered if they felt at all nervous.

Watching the others ask questions and listening attentively provided the answer, no.

 

[Soviet Panda]

Connor was not one for being late, but then again he also didn't like being early. So as the briefing started, he slipped into the room and took a seat by the door. As he looked around the room, and though he wasn't overly impressed by what he saw they at least all looked capable. No clue which division they were in, but they could probably do their job, why else would they have been transferred? As the briefing went on he sat quietly, the only question he might have had had been asked by someone else, most likely someone that's going to be in Hunter with him.

 

[Sylvio]

"Assuming the mission doesn't go south, a Blackhawk will extract you at the same area as Hunter's insertion. If it does well, we'll keep you updated." Bykov said. Everyone then turned to see Connor walk in the briefing room though the two department heads turned to the front immediately, "Agent McKinley, you're designated to team Hunter, your squad mates will brief you on your mission."

Daniel looked at Connor as he walked in he took note of his figure, he was somewhat shorter than the rest of the operations members at least. He figured that he was gonna get teased by the squad but he also looked like he had a lot of bite in him. His thoughts were interrupted by Bykov. "Yes Agent DeLeon." his voice boomed to the quiet woman.

 

[Spiderverse]

Ji-Eun had kept her hand raised the entire time while she was waiting for her question to be answered, fairly aware that the speakers wouldn’t have remembered that she had a question unless her hand was raised. While this was going on, her eyes trailed over to the red haired girl that had moved herself a lil closer to the conversation between Jiro and Daniel. She seemed to be an espionage agent, the aura that she gave off nothing like the presence of a field operator. If she was then she was definitely a greenie, but even then if she was here than there was some legitimacy to her presence.

Just as the door opened, the woman’s dead gaze turned directly toward the man that had tried to slip in. He was the larger, much more burly type, yet he had been on a bit more of the short side. Nonetheless he seemed like a grumpy fellow, and with the confirmation by Nikolai, he would be someone that she would have to interact with extensively. However when she had been called upon, Ji-Eun’s posture shot straight up, her eyes a lil widened at the booming voice of her new commanding officer. She stood quiet for a moment, considering whether to ask her question vocally or with sign language. The woman hadn’t been aware of anyone else here that knew how to sign, so it would be better for her to attempt to use her words. “Dew wah no watt kiend of whappons he gourds may ave? Arr we piowitizing ethal farce? (Do we know what kind of weapons the guards may have? Are we prioritizing lethal force?)” Despite the clear mispronunciation and mixing of words, the woman held her serious gaze.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Jiro nodded to Bykov's answer and remained quiet. While waiting, he took note of that red haired girl to Jiro, she looked quite inexperienced. Cracking his neck to the side, the sniper's gaze went from soft to rock hard as he waited for the briefing to end, the sniper had began to mentally prepare himself for the mission. As the mental preparation went on, Jiro still attentively listened to what the others were speaking.

His mental preparation was cut short when Jiro heard Agent DeLeon speak, her speech impediment caught him off guard but that didn't lower his opinion of her, in fact it raised it because it reminded him of a German proverb his father told him it was Anfangen ist leicht, Beharren eine Kunst meaning starting is easy, persistence is an art. The sniper had one more question but decided to snuff it as he figured he would get it answer once he saw what gear he was getting.

 

[Sylvio]

"These guys are ex Russian military, so expect a lot of AK's, pecheng's, and dragunov's. Since they took the airport without much of a fight, I doubt they'll have special forces to counteract us but just be prepared for that. Speaking of taking the airport with not much of a fight, they might be pretty lax with security, thinking the Russians won't be looking for them since their troops are in Siberia, but they didn't account for us. So we have more leverage in terms of surprise. As for rules of engagement, lethal force is authorized."

Noel spoke right after, "You'll be flying into Kaliningrad by way of connecting flight, you'll fly into Ramstein Airbase, from there our branch HQ can fly you in by Blackhawk into Kaliningrad undetected. Once you're on board you'll each be dropped at your designated insertion point so Agent Foxwell, you'll be alone on the ground as an ultranationalist inspections officer. You'll be given the credentials to roam around the base as you please."

 

[Sylvio]

With no more questions from the agents, they were dismissed and returned to their devices before they had to go with their gear on to a C-17 cargo plane that took them to Ramstein USAF base. It wasn't too long of a flight, took about a couple hours. The plane landed on the runway of the base and everyone got off the plane where they were greeted by Lionheart operators and a woman in a black suit who smiled as she saw Daniel. Daniel smiled back as he walked towards her and they both hugged. They were both speaking German, "It's good to see you again." Daniel said.

"It's good to see you too, didn't think you were in Lionheart."

"I'm an HQ agent."

"Yeah that makes sense, Branches never get briefed on the roster over there. So we always find out last minute."

Branches were Lionheart headquarters that were established away from the Main HQ. If someone was assigned to a Branch that meant they were assigned to missions and tasks within their designated region. HQ did their missions wherever they were needed and always made sure they were off the grid. HQ Agents were not allowed to give their real names to anyone who wasn't part of HQ. Additionally they weren't allowed to disclose its location, the penalty would be exemption from Lionheart and execution.

Daniel went into English to the rest of the team, "Guys this is a friend of mine who used to be with the FIS. We worked on gathering intelligence together in Afghanistan."

"I'm Agent Schneider. I'm here to escort you guys to the East European Branch in Leipzig." she smiled to the agents before her.