Max handed it over, letting her put it in, before taking it back, chuckling.
"Thanks! I mean trust me, that wasn't a setup or something, haha....how you feeling after that?" Max asked, sighing as he leaned against his own car, himself now recovering from the sheer amount of adrenaline that had run through him, the chatty Brit just taking in this moment in its entirety. This didn't feel real, racing on the streets of LA, and running from cops. Why there was so many cops out, Max didn't know, but for $1000 lost, this had been a hell of a rush for this race here.

---







Sitting in the driver's seat of the dutch-plated blue VW Passat, Mark Torridon looked like he was at home, natural as he watched on at the phone on the dash, the agent not working alone today. Wearing a black puffy jacket, a kevlar vest and a pair of jeans, he looked more criminal than cop, more like was selling drugs from a car like this than actually going after a network.

The morning rain poured down in the Dutch capital on an unusually cold morning, and even so, the very slight smell of weed cafes could be smelt from here in the Bijlmer district. He looked across to his right to Athena, knowing their re-introduction had already been covered at Schipol a couple hours ago.

"Any second now. If our friends in LA follow through, we're gonna be green. Should be around here, if our guy's right. Shit, Amsterdam's like fucking Miami....with shittier weather and more canals. Hey, nice as it is to be working again Athena, sorry I can't give you the high life all the time, eh?" Mark said, looking then to his phone, and almost exactly on time, the phone buzzed. Mark leaned over, hitting the recieve button, and putting on the speaker. The man on the other end was another Interpol agent, a man implanted in the LAPD who had been part of this little operation, someone Mark knew a little about, but never in person.

"Hey. It's your guy in Cali."
"Yeah? Enjoying the sun?"
"Mostly- it's getting colder though out here. Anyway, the guy in the BMW. We got him. Arrested on a lot of bad, but he talked quickly when it was gonna get worse for him. Punk was out racing, guy was easy as hell to track, so we just sprang it on him. You were right about that- dude with a car like that was gonna flash it around." The voice on the other end spoke, Mark chuckling.
"Of course I'm right. And what did our mutual friend have to say?"
"Yeah, there's a place in Amsterdam. I'll send you the co-ordinates. Should be what you're out there looking for." The voice called, as Mark nodded, chuckling.
"Good. This place is a shithole, sooner the better. Thanks." Mark replied, picking up the phone, pinging in the location that had come across, the drive not too far from here.
"Happy hunting." The voice called out, an impersonal remark, given Mark's identity wasn't really one for an Interpol to disclose in any format, given how grey he was and unknown. A good double agent had that ability about him- nobody actually knew who the fuck he worked for, bar a few people above his paygrade in Interpol itself.

Cutting the phone, Mark looked across to Athena, opening the glovebox and checking his own P226, the solid gun-metal black Swiss-engineered 9mm pistol loaded and cocked, as he slid it into the driver side door store. The Scot started the VW's engine, pulling out of the parking spot on the side of the road, and quickly putting hammer to throttle.
"Right, so if we're lucky, this place is gonna be empty. Kick the door in, hopefully nobody's in, take whatever intel we can get our hands on, and get out. Fancy, I know. But if we get this, we're gonna have a serious bit of leverage." Mark started, turning a corner, keeping it slow now on the residential streets, canals passing by as they drove through the Dutch capital.

"So, the Syndicate's got a pretty serious drugs running operation out of this guy's flat. Something actually to do with Sobotka, funny to mention. There's a laptop in particular we're looking for- basically it's their transit. We get that, we might have an idea of who this dealer's network looks like...and more importantly, who his boss is. Then we can do some serious bloody damage." Mark added, aware Athena had some idea of the brief, but wanted to give a brief reminder, something before they went into the lion's den. This shouldn't be too intense an op, Mark reminded himself, but anything could happen in a place like this. Anything could be on the other side of the door, after all.

A few days ago, Athena was busy training in a facility somewhere in the United States. Honing her gun skills was the focus of her training session that day, handling various weapons systems ranging from the ordinary pistols in the Glock and Sig Sauer, ranging all the way to heavy sniper rifles chambered in .50 BMG. It wasn't just target practice either. Athena was being drilled in various different scenarios and situations that she would face in her new job. It was hard to find someone who could actually train her in more advanced techniques, but eventually she found herself where she was now. Her instructor was a bit of a hardass, but she was rather familiar with him and knew what exactly he needed to do to get Athena to the proper level.

Retired Navy SEAL, Commander Michael Rossi (aka Athena's oldest brother), was at the head of this training program, and it covered techniques that police, military, and special forces alike would be able to apply in their day-to-day operations. Athena had been in the program for a while, and it helped her catch up to her counterparts in INTERPOL, as that was where she was stationed now. The first few weeks were a bit rough, considering Athena was coming off of NYPD ESU training while she was surrounded by all sorts of military backgrounds. But, it didn't take long for her to adjust and she quickly caught up and absorbed as much technique as she could.

Athena was toward the trail end of running down a narrow alley, her pistol close to her and tilted at a forty five degree angle. Coming up to the last pair of targets, they rolled out of their compartments and flashed in front of Athena, who extended her gun forward and shot quickly enough to dispatch those two targets. The execution of those two targets marked the end of the drill, and Athena walked out, sighing as she felt her phone vibrate in her plate carrier. "Excuse me." Athena said, as she walked past the group, pulling her phone out. "Amsterdam?" Athena looked, before glancing back at the group getting ready to run through their drills, "I'll be there."

So there Athena was, a few days later, sitting in the passenger seat of a European car as she heard Mark speak. "Trust me, I'm from Northern California -- the high life isn't all that." Athena chuckled, before continuing to stare at the phone in front of her. Suddenly, it buzzed and Athena let Mark take care of the formalities, while Athena took the time to check her own plate carrier. Shortly after, Athena pulled her own Sig Sauer out, pulling the slide back just a bit to check if a round was chambered. There was a 9x19mm round chambered in the gun, prompting Athena to quickly put the pistol back in her holster, before Mark drove off.

This was the first operation she'd been on with Mark, so she wasn't exactly sure what she would be expecting when it came to these sorts of operations. Though, she supposed that there was a first time for everything. Holding onto the side handle as Mark whipped it around the streets of Amsterdam, she went over the details that she and Mark went over in the briefing. It wasn't supposed to be a very high risk operation, something that the two of them were more than prepared for.

Pulling up to the site of the operation, Athena already noticed something peculiar as the car came to a stop nearby. There seemed to be a lot of movement in and out of that flat. "Intel didn't say that there were going to be this many people here." Athena said, looking over to Mark. "Is there a deal going down right now?" Athena wondered. "We might have to rethink our plan for entry."

Mark took his own P226 after pulling to a stop, watching on, cocking the 9mm after checking the slide, eyeballing the same house that Athena had an eye on. A handful more people were going in, about six or so, going in and out, though nothing actually on them. One was on the phone, and while they couldn't hear him from here, Mark's interest was piqued.
"Shit. No, wait, Athena. This makes things interesting. They're not buying. No cases, and besides, he wouldn't do it here. Let's watch this." Mark said, looking across to Athena, reaching over across into the back seat, pulling out a monacle, looking through the telescopic lens and looking on. They were going in and out, not without cases, but with laptops and computers. No money on hand, whatever they were taking, it was small. The two cars outside were quite nice, a pair of Range Rover Velars, in fact. Not a stupidly expensive car, but still, something snobbish, as he gave the monacle over to Athena.

"They're clearing house. Fuck, they are good. Fast. Right, so they know their network could be comprimised, so they are taking anything of value out. Why the fuck aren't they destroying it?" Mark added, almost in commentary, watching on as a few more came out, Mark taking a sip from his water bottle as he let Athena watch on, all to spit in shock at what happened barely a second later. At the front of the house, a few of them had gotten into an arguement, and what was an arguement had turned into one of them getting stabbed. They dragged the poor bastard's bleeding body inside, the five other men now getting to work and carrying on. Mark hadn't arrived early enough to tell who he was, but he must have been inside the flat to begin with, given he was being walked past and bleeding out through the frame of the door.

"Shit....jammy fucks. Fucking of course, they're not just clearing house of whatever's on those laptops. They're vulturing his network. His own protection probably went and fucking realised what just happened before he did. Taking it underground for his bosses before we lock him up. Cut-throat wankers...that is what we are up against. From the cars, plates and look of em, they look like Serbian Mob types. Someone above them is smart." Mark added, still watching on, knowing they were still loading both Range Rovers up, beginning to finish up their work now.

"Damn. Okay, we can rush them now, punt the car into em', or tail em'. See if we can hit them at a junction instead, recover the key stuff, but if they floor it, or go into a densely populated area, we're fucked. Thoughts, Ath?" Mark asked, getting ready to start the car, knowing either way, it was gonna get pretty brutal. It had escalated, yes, but the reason being was that this opportunity was about to slip. This was important, and well, it was very much in the interests of them both to get this info. If the Serbians had killed one of their own out of spite for it, then it had to have value to someone.

Peering through the monocle, Athena noticed that the people that were originally outside of the house were moving rather quickly in and out. They were moving way too fast for any sort of business transaction. Athena's time in the NYPD had taught her that people moving that quickly were always moving with an intent to kill or harm. They weren't here to make a deal -- they were here to claim some lives. Athena's intuition was quickly confirmed as one of them had been stabbed rather quickly, before they moved to conceal the body away from the eyes of everyone else, including Mark and Athena.

"Jesus Christ." Athena swore, putting the monocle down, before listening to Mark talk. Athena had dealt with her fair share of mobs and gangsters, but none had operated with this amount of efficiency and ruthlessness. They definitely did things differently in Europe, and Athena was in for a rude awakening as she witnessed the men just pour into the house like nothing else had happened. Not a trace of what had just happened was left to be seen around, and only Mark and Athena were the only other witnesses of what was going on. From what it seemed, they were recovering data, and whatever they were packing was going to prove to be real valuable. But that also posed a rather interesting decision. What were they going to do to recover the data?

Athena thought for a second, before coming to a decision. "Let's get them here while we still have them in one spot." Athena said, "There's two cars, and only one for us." Athena said, pulling out her pistol. "This is our best chance at taking them down right now. If we tail them we risk losing not only one, but both of them." Athena glanced at the Range Rovers, "Just warn me before you go in."

Mark nodded, turning the key on the engine, the Passat firing up into life.
"You have been warned, Ath. Ready up. Moment they get a couple on the pavement, I'll punt them into the front car. We won't crash too bad, but be ready to get out and start blasting. Suprise is about the best thing we've got. Use it, focus, and don't fucking stop till there's nobody left standing. Not often I say that. But well...you signed up to this, right?" Mark said, almost a little sarcastic right at the end, knowing full well Athena would reply in turn with that and agree that as brutal as it was, it was a needed thing. None of the people they were about to get involved with were going to be good people- they had murdered someone in pretty much cold blood, and well, it's pretty hard to go back from that. The Scotsman knew that himself.

Pulling out the parking, Mark checked his P226's location, heading down the short stretch of road, seeing two more come out. Pulling the P226, he put his foot to floor in 2nd, the speedo climbing as he took the pistol and with a quickdraw, started firing a couple of rounds through the windscreen, already getting one and then hitting two, turning them into skittles as he braked hard, knowing it was still too late now. They crashed at about 15mph into the back of the Range Rover, the two Serbs thrown onto bonnet and then floor, as Mark opened his door. It was a little rough, but it had worked. The airbags hadn't deployed at this speed, but it was a hell of a knock, and Mark felt his seatbelt tighten quite a bit, though not enough to unclip and get the fuck out.

With a seamless move, Mark put four rounds between the two on the floor, quickly taking them down with a shot to the top of his chest, before using one of the Range Rovers for cover, seeing two of two more Serbs run out. They were caught with their pants down, but Mark knew they had to act. Mark slid from cover, taking one more down, lookign across to Athena.
"Two more, inside the flat! I'll cover!" Mark added, giving a couple of rounds of suppressing fire, letting Athena move and get shots on. Once they had these two fuckers iced, they'd have to make a quick sweep of the flat, check the dead guy, and then get the hell out with the two Range Rovers- now conveniently loaded with intel. There wasn't enough time here to wait. More Serbs could be around the corner, and even if the police responded quick enough, it wouldn't be fast enough to secure the most important stuff- they'd identify the Serbs when they arrived. Besides, Mark and Athena weren't exactly a conventional police operation- they were pretty much deniable, and this would later go down as a gang shooting, Mark knew. This wasn't very much that- this was getting shit done, the old-school way.

Athena took a deep breath and let it out. Punting the car into another was never going to be an easy task to undertake, but she didn't sign up for an easy job. There were going to be hard decisions to make, and this was one of them. "Yeah. Yeah, I did." Athena shook her head, as she tugged on her seatbelt to make sure she was secured. Hopefully the impact wasn't going to be too hard. There was no better option for them to take, and the both of them knew it. They knew that if they waited, these Serbians had a higher chance of getting away and there was no way that the either of them were going to let that happen to the best of their power and ability.

Hearing the car's engine rev up, Athena internally braced herself for the impact that was about to happen, but before they even lined up with the car they were going to hit, Mark had already starting shooting and popping shots off as he was lining up his path. Athena didn't want to pull her gun out just yet, just to make sure she wouldn't accidentally lose it during the impact. For now, she was focused on maintaining herself during the impact and sorting herself out as fast as she could so that she could get what she needed to get done as soon as possible.

Feeling the impact of the car, Athena did feel some of it but it wasn't nearly as bad as she was expecting it to be. It was to the point where she was able to undo her seatbelt and scramble outside, pulling her pistol out smoothly and preparing herself to engage with the threats in the house. Sliding to the Land Rover adjacent to the one Mark was behind, Athena looked over to Mark as he told her to move up. Nodding silently, Athena started to move up as she heard suppressing fire coming from Mark's pistol. Holding her pistol and readying it, Athena immediately encountered a gangster, who she dispatched quickly with a quickly placed shot to the head. Moving up further into the flat, Athena was met with a gangster who had been hiding and waiting for her, putting his hands on her gun as the two wrestled for control of her gun. Athena quickly made a bit of distance with her lower body, hands still on the gun as she kicked the inside of the guy's knee, causing him to buckle before she ripped the gun out of his grip, aiming it at his head and firing a round to put an end to him. Another man was seen down the hall, who Athena dispatched with two quickly placed shots to the upper body. "Mark!" She yelled, signaling for him to come in.

Mark ran in, seeing Athena drop another guy at the end of the hall she was in, following cautiously. Tapping her on the shoulder, he moved past, moving into the front room, sweeping it out, before heading into the kitchen, bathroom, and upstairs into the two bedrooms, moving quick and efficient as he let Athena take the rest of the small flat. There wasn't anyone here, and the place had indeed been stripped out- apart from looking like a typical Dutch flat, there was little in the way to suggest anything had been run here, let alone someone lived here. Nothing of serious value was left- a trace amount of drugs, but nowhere near enough to deal properly with. This guy had been running his operation out of here- and that didn't exactly mean dealing here and now. A typical drug dealer these days often had better than just himself, especially this geezer- he'd have people below him doing the dirty, he was more like a glorified accountant. Now with a knife wound and dying on the porch of his own flat, he was gonna die a glorified accountant.

Running back down the stairs, Mark had to make a note to step over the bodies in the flat, the place a fucking bloodbath. This was making the news alright, and it was lucky this leafy neighborhood had most people in work, otherwise. Even then, they would probably have seen the girl and the guy who had killed a bunch of other gangsters, and that was how it looked. No symbols, or look that make them look like law enforcement.
"Got what we needed here. Place is dry. Cars look full of IT equipment though. Since this guy is good as a chocolate teapot, let's fuck right out of here. I'll keep you on the other end of the line." Mark said, looking to the body as he opened the door, letting Athena go first- Mark ever the gentleman before following her out.

Heading for the Range Rover at the front, the Scot clambered in, the keyless left in thankfully- they were just about to leave after all, and the one at the front who had been punted wasn't about to speed off without a fight. Well, they picked the wrong one, Mark mused- and well, now they had their cars. The radio was blaring, grime of course. Fucking hell, it wouldn't be a morning in Amsterdam fighting gangsters with this shite on the radio, Mark thought to himself, as he pushed the Start button, the four cylinder revving into life. Despite being crashed into, this thing could pull away, as he put Athena through on the speaker.
"All good your end? Best bet for us is back at Schiphol, there's a hangar over there we can park up in and get these things on air freight. I imagine someone's gonna want to tear apart whatever's in these cars...already got a laptop and half a dozen notepads here, shit, proper fucking accountancy going on here. Ready when you are."

Feeling Mark tap her shoulder, Athena progressed further into the flat. Clearing every single corner she could, she swept the downstairs area while Mark cleared the top. It was a very cut and clear operation, and hopefully Athena or Mark would find something that they could make a use out of while they were here. Unfortunately, their prospects were not looking very bright. As it seemed right now, the places were stripped clean and not even a crumb was left here. Athena grimaced as she continued to clear the house. Eventually, she had looked every nook and cranny of the house, eventually deeming it to be clear and not a single piece of evidence or information could be found on her end. She sighed, putting her gun down as she looked toward Mark clambering down the stairs.

"I've got nothing done here." Athena shook her head, before walking over to Mark. Seemed like he was also in the same boat, because it didn't look like his searches were turning up much either. Holstering her pistol, she listened to Mark say what he had to say. Looked like the Serbians were thorough in their cleanup and made sure that they were to not leave a single bit of evidence behind. Damn, these people operated quickly and cleanly. They were definitely on another level compared to the people she saw in her time in New York. Very rarely, did they operate clean, let alone as clean as this.

Walking outside, Athena headed for the Range Rover in the back, knowing the one in the front probably wasn't in the best shape to be driven right now. They needed to extract whatever was in these vehicles out and into somewhere safe, where it could be processed and have something be done with it. Athena climbed inside, holding down the push to start button to find that the Range Rover had started. That was a good start. Driving off after Mark, she soon felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket, promptly putting it on speaker as she followed behind Mark. "Yeah, I'm all good here. Just gotta make sure there's nobody following us." Athena nodded, before glancing behind her. "You lead the way. I'll follow." Athena remarked, before glancing in her mirror once again. A few cars seemed to appear behind them, which Athena was a bit wary of, considering how they were driving and staying just far back enough to where Athena couldn't see them. Athena quickly stepped on the gas, gaining speed. "Looks like we've got company."

Mark kept foot to floor, cursing.
"Well, that lasted long. Okay. We're gonna try and lead them towards the canals, break our line of sight. They must have had reinforcements after we iced their friends. Keep your foot down." Mark replied, clutching the wheel tighter as he threw the Range Rover's gear up, speeding through a red light and weaving through traffic, seeing the two Mercedes-Benz S-Classes already following. Shit, this was a real mob, and they had friends in town. Going towards the city centre, he knew it was a longer way to the airport, but they had to break this tail.

Racing through the streets, Mark heard the sound of a pistol crack, the next shattering his rear window as he ducked his head down, braking hard and skidding left, into a narrow street, barely dodging a couple of cars, coming quickly into another canal-side residential area, bikes and other pedestrians diving out of the way as he beeped his horn. The bridge next up along the road was gonna be serious, as Mark kept his throttle down, aware he'd get a lot of air- and probably yeet into a crowd if he kept it pinned. Instead, he took it conservatively, the Range clambering over the sharp bridge and giving him an opportunity to let Athena follow on him.

Mark pulled the handbrake, the Range's body roll making the lift off-oversteer even more exaggerated off the bridge, then turning once again into a cobbled road, the Mercs unable to catch here due to the crowds, but still in sight. Mark put foot to floor once again, the four-wheel drive screeching as he turned back out onto another main road, diving and ducking through traffic.
"We've nearly lost them, let's keep going!"

Sticking close to Mark, Athena kept the throttle punched and kept as close as possible to her partner. Due to the hole in the air Mark was punching in front of her, Athena had an easier time staying behind him and keeping with him. The cars behind her, however, also had just as easy of a time with it as she did and were quickly catching up. Though, knowing how defensive driving classes worked, she knew what was coming up next and she was prepared for it. Athena didn't grip the steering wheel too hard, ready to react to Mark accordingly as he made whatever move he was going to make.

Hearing what she assumed to be a pistol shot, she saw Mark's rear window shatter somehow, before she saw the brake lights light up. Pressing the pedal accordingly, she whipped her steering wheel to the left, sticking close to him as they went down the tight streets of Amsterdam. These streets were not made for these vehicles, and it was proven by how much space they had between them and the canal as they sped past everyone. A bridge soon came up, where Athena let off the throttle and let the car take it as naturally as it could, before turn onto a cobbled road.

Glancing behind again, she could see that only one Mercedes had managed to stick with her and Mark, before glancing back in front. "We've got one more on our ass!" Athena replied, before the road opened up ahead. Based on how the car pulled aside, they were definitely lining up a shot on either her or Mark. Putting a hand down, she quickly pulled her pistol out of her holster, transferring it to her other hand, and holding it low as she watched the car pull up aside her. As soon as the car left her blindspot, she aimed her pistol at what she assumed to be the driver's side, and fired off a few shots. Some landed on the hood, but one definitely shattered the windshield. Athena wasn't sure if it had actually hit the driver, but it was a big enough shot to throw off the car to the point where it got off of Athena's trail. "I think that's all of them." Athena replied, before putting her pistol back in its holster.

Mark watched as she took the vehicle out, either by lethally or non-lethally making that driver think twice, the windscreen shattering with a shot from her 9mm as Mark kept focussed on the road ahead, weaving through more morning traffic as the car's roll felt like it was throwing itself around when weaving in traffic, the weight of the Range Rover certainly something the Scot felt when driving this thing at high speed. Hands gripped tight, he made sure to keep control, aware he didn't want to cause a RTC, or a road traffic collision. Keep it straight and narrow, and get the hell out- Athena had helped them to do that, which had put room between them and their pursuers. Pulling off the main road, a junction for the motorway was coming up as Mark turned onto it, dropping his pace back a little to let Athena catch up properly, but not slow enough to lose any pursuers. Sooner they got to Schipol, the better.

Out onto the wide-open motorway, Mark was now chuckling that they'd actually not ended up dead right there.
"Looks like we got out of that one, Ath! How you holding up?" Mark asked, putting it straight into the furhest lane left and keeping foot to floor, hovering at a nice 90 with a bit of wind noise now coming in from the shattered rear window. Letting Athena speak her peace, he watched for the signage, following the route back to Amsterdam's airport, aware they had a hangar to get back to where they could unload the materials.

Athena shook her head and sighed. "Holding up just fine here. As long as nobody comes up to us." The INTERPOL agent said, glancing behind her to double check if a car was anywhere nearby. Only the regular civilian cars were nearby, meaning that they were in the clear for now, and Athena could let her guard down just a bit. She sat back in her seat, letting herself sink in the rather comfortable seats that the Range Rover had to offer. She definitely saw why people bought these things now, because boy, were they comfortable. Not a single bump could be felt as she was keeping pace with Mark.

"What do you think is on those computers?" Athena asked, glancing back at the equipment in the rear. "I hope it's something good..." Athena mused, "If they were willing to go this hard for it... there's got to be valuable data, right?" Usually when people went to these lengths to recover something, it proved to be valuable in the end. However, these were European gangs she was dealing with. She wasn't nearly as familiar with them as she was with American gangs. She wasn't sure about how they operated, at least not to the extent of familiarity that she was with the American gangs.

Mark gave a nod, knowing while she didn't see it, he fully agreed.
"High risk, high reward. We got more than we bargained for. But this should be something. Few more miles, and we're there." Mark replied, looking in the back for a split second, whistling at the stash. Shit, why bother moving a flat out when you could have Serbians do it for you. Damn, now that wasn't bad. The transnational syndicate wasn't exactly a homogenous whole, the Serbs were just one part of it- a part that handled their operations here, but like anything, there was always a chain. Just like a company, gangs had hierarchy, people pulling strings. Mark had done a lot of good work in the last few years- killing the various heads. But like a hydra, it always seemed to have another one. It was only a matter of time before they found something that went up the chain, and gave

Pulling into the airport, they headed for the cargo route in, pulling up to the security gate that was there for lorries and various airside vehicles- a more direct route than going any other way. An airport was not a place for a gang to enter, given how tight these days airport security was. That worked nicely for lockups, given it gave any pursuer a hell of a lot more to think about. They were going through once Mark waved his pass, and back on the throttle on the airside, going around the back of the large international airport, aircraft taking off seemingly from all directions on the various runways at Schipol.

Driving into the unmarked hangar, a fair drive from the gate, Mark took in the complete absence of anything here, nothing really to observe. It wasn't exactly enormous, enough for maybe a smaller private jet, but there was nothing to indicate anyone had been here recently. Perfect for them, then. Driving into a small garage in the corner of the hangar after driving inside, Mark could finally take a breather as he hopped out, looking across to Athena pulling in.
"Well, that wasn't a piece of piss. We just probably made some headlines in the news. But we're not dead, so that is a positive." Mark added, looking across the barren garage, a few bags scattered around from when they'd set up spare weapons, as well as a few other bits and pieces they needed. Getting to the back of his car, he carefully opened the boot, as best as he could given the back was smashed in, and started pulling out a couple of laptops, carefully carrying them across to a desk.
"Let's see what we can get then, hey?"

The airport was one of the last places you'd ever want to chase someone down, especially if that someone was aligned with INTERPOL and had the governments of various countries on their side. If the Serbians hadn't fucked off by then, they were in for a storm. Luckily, by the time they'd reached the airport there seemed to be no signs of trouble to be found. Pulling up Mark at the security gate, the personnel around the gate were a bit wary of the vehicles that had just arrived, especially with Mark's smashed up Range Rover. Though, the pass he flashed, as well as Athena's pass had relieved the guards of a moderate amount of suspicion. They were still confused as to why the car was smashed up in the first place, or why there were bullet holes in it, but it was better that they leave it alone and not question it. Some questions were better left unanswered, after all.

Pulling into the hangar, Athena was a little reluctant to hop out of the vehicle, relishing in the sheer comfort of the vehicle before she finally got out. As comfortable as the car was, she still had a job to do. Hopping out, Athena immediately went to the car's trunk and opened it up, revealing various computers and hard drives in the back. Knowing how these things usually went, it was going to take a while to fully comb through the data by themselves. They were field agents - although that didn't mean they didn't know how to process these things, there was probably going to be stuff they were going to miss while they combed through. Athena pulled out a bag with a couple of laptops and hard drives, before walking over to the same desk that Mark had set his stuff up at.

"There better be something useful." Athena said, before opening the laptops and booting them up. The laptops took a while to boot up, but once she was able to get in, Athena started to dig for files, and it wasn't long until she found some stuff that had caught her attention. There were a lot of numbers flying about, but then Athena started to see some cities, which was what really caught her eye. "Hey... it looks like they're operating out of a lot of places..." Athena said, scrolling through, "London, Rome, Monaco.... and New York City?" Athena raised an eyebrow, before turning to Mark. "I've never dealt with these guys in New York City. I've dealt with the mob, triads, cartels, and a bunch of other organized crime... but not the Serbian mob." Athena said to Mark, stepping aside to allow him to take a closer look.

Mark got them all plugged in, making sure they weren't connected to any external network, plugging in a USB and another drive to get the hard-disks backed up on each laptop, aware it was crucial they got it before anything kicked in. Remarkably, security on both was poor, given that a standard door-kicking programme had gotten through and gotten them into both. Hearing what Athena had to say about the locations, his ears perked up, as he came over, having a look through.
"Those Serbs are probably the friends of Sobotka you uhh....dealt with. I mean, it's not just them. Serbs are just one part of that organisation. Those triads, the mafia....all of them will have friends at this table. Like the EU, the UN, big organisations like that, criminal gangs at this level realised there's no point killing each other over business like this, when it can be run reliably. It's lucrative, and better for everyone when there's one monopoly and people can predict they won't get arrested. Drug networks are like that too. Everyone wins when the supply is constant, the money is constant and regulated, and everyone does their fucking job. Which is why when we throw a spanner in the works, the whole thing gives us plenty of opportunities. Like this one." Mark commented, chuckling as he scrolled through, seeing where the network had gone.

It was almost like a full-on distribution line, with drugs being delivered into Rotterdam from Karachi, Uzbekistan and Jakarta to name a few on containers with other goods, being brought into Holland that way and then pushed out. It was like they had hitched a ride on international shipping- this wasn't some dude in a submarine trying to get drugs to Miami, this was them being involved in global trade, on a very illicit level. And to think this was only one section of their work...Mark kept looking over with Athena, aware that while they hadn't trawled everything, there was a lot of interesting stuff coming up that would get them higher up the criminal organogram.

"This is a fucking goldmine. Shit, nice work, Athena. There's a few leads, but the main one we'll want is this guy's boss. She's not someone I recognise....Ektarina Kolhakova, looks like she's in Marrakesh, she's the regional lead. Shit, this is like a fucking company. Google, eat your heart out." Mark added, chuckling as he took his drive out, aware he'd gotten the copies he neded, aware now they had a location, even vaguely, to start searching.
"I'll make some calls. This is now getting high up the foodchain, Ath. We're gonna need to try and bring her in if we want to get some real intel, and be very careful how we play it out. No doubt she won't want to go down fighting. Get this wrong, and we're back to square one. You with me on this one?"

The information that Mark was relaying to Athena was nothing short of surprising to her. To her understanding, it seemed like every single crime syndicate on the world was working together, and not in a war with each other and fighting each other. Seemed like the crime organizations of the world figured out how to run things. It wasn't just a superficial, localized thing either. There were ties all over the world and the roots ran deep. It was far, far easier to list out where the Syndicate didn't have their hands in. The scope of what Athena and Mark had gotten themselves into had come as quite a shock to her. She didn't know it was this big. "Jesus... how deep does this shit run?" Athena sighed, continuing to look at the list in front of her.

One name in particular seemed to catch Mark's attention, causing Athena to focus her attention back in on the screen. Ektarina Kolhakova. Athena had never been to Morocco, but she knew that a trip there was going to lead to some hopefully very fruitful intelligence that would lead to the collapse of this syndicate. Athena was getting a grip of what they were really getting themselves into. The two of them, taking care of all this. It was nothing short of amazing, and the two were definitely trained enough to take care of it.

"Of course I'm with you." Athena scoffed, "What kind of question is that?" The INTERPOL agent shook her head, before folding her arms. "You ever been to Morocco? I don't think I've ever been." Athena asked curiously, as she looked over at Mark. "Hopefully she cooperates with us. I don't want to fight for nothing..." Athena said, before walking over to a pile of hard disks. "We got everything we need here? I think it's almost time for us to pack up and leave."

Mark gave a low chuckle, looking back over to Athena over his shoulder, turning as he took the took the drive into hand, chuckling.
"Glad to hear you're enjoying this taste. Anyway, she'll co-operate with us. We always seem to find a way....in the end, it's usually quite inevitable with our operations. Aye, let's pack it all up. We just need to hold here till the local PD take these into their possession. What happens from there, I don't really give a shit- we have our copies and all we need." Mark added, putting the drive away as he shut the laptop down, sending the drive's data to his cloud-based backup now it had been swept and secured, isolated of any shut-downs or lock-outs it could have. They had no idea what they could be running- and chances were, if the Syndicate knew they were comprimised even further, their networks would already be scrambled. It left them little time to act, but Mark knew they'd get straight onto it.

Taking the laptops aside, he begun moving all the equipment into a secure set of steel hardcases, putting them inside, thinking back to Athena's earlier comments.
"So yeah, this shit runs deep. Don't get me wrong. Not every gang is in on it. Those Panamanians in Mexico? Yeah, nah, they weren't. There's a few factions and groups who aren't. But all it takes is enough people on board for them, and they'll have their monopoly pretty much. It's like McDonalds, but McMafia, if you get me. Sure, there's a Burger King or some greasy spoon on the side of the road in competition....but it ain't the big Maccies, is it?" Mark added rather poetically, knowing the allegory was poor, but it would somewhat put the point across, as he got back to her earlier point.

"As for Morocco...it's a beautiful place. They say it's the furthest east you can go while staying close to Europe. Marrakesh is a mess of bazaars, souqs and all sorts of other madness. Fits a drug dealer's boss really as a place to stay. Also fits us too, because we'll have a little more anarchy we can use up."

-------





While coincidence was a fine thing, in that same early morning, the unlikely pair had made their way up Mount Toukbal, coming down off the summit after taking in the impressive views of Morocco's highest peak. The late winter had given them a good opportunity to get an awful lot of powder, this high up the mountain, and the snowline was fairly low all things considered- it was almost compeletely devoid of snow in the early autumn, so to get this was rather a boon. An African mountain wasn't exactly as wild as Alaska, or the Alps, Japan or even New Zealand or Norway, but it was a line that Zoe had wanted to do for a while, and the Francophone gal had something in mind for this little adventure, someone she just had to bring Valentina along for. The morning was pretty perfect too- a few smiges of cloud, but it was nearly completely clear, if not freezing cold. The petite girl, the Wanderlust Queen herself was wrapped up in predominantly yellow and purple, from the purple North Face beanie she had on, the warm yellow Picture Object jacket she wore, to her purple-coloured ski-pants, a look that she tried to keep the same, of course, for YouTube purposes. She shut off the MP3 in her ear, exhaling a cloudy breath of mist, taking in for a moment the splendid view as they stopped a little off the peak.

They were going to get down fast, but like all things, Zoe didn't just want to take the slow line down. The line was jagged, but nowhere near steep enough for a wingsuit jump, given how the terrain oscillated and shifted, a mass of sandstone sticking out on a spine yet falling away every so often, making it nigh impossible to ski or snowboard down....in a normal manner. For that, came speed-riding- effectively, using skis and a speedwing, or a minature paraglider wing, to effectively fly down a ski-route, and well, quite literally fly out of danger any time a drop or a jump seemed too huge. It was pretty much the quickest way down, and well, while the French Alps were a more epically scaled place to do it, it just hadn't been done here. Plus, the line looked like it had a lot of big gullies that could be cleared, which was of course, cool as hell. Fodder for the GoPros, and their YouTube galore. Perhaps that was what Zoe did think of more than anything- perhaps it was the wrong way to do things, but she didn't care. It helped her remember, and while they were trying to build something up together, it had to be said, living the moment had something to it.

Zoe looked out, the playgirl extraordinare glad to be back with Valentina, someone she had a love-hate relationship, often in the very literal sense as she sat down in the snow, adjusting her Oakley goggles, looking to the Columbian as she unfurled her own bright yellow speedwing out across the fresh powder. No sponsors...yet, she chuckled to herself, as she adjusted the Gopro on her chest, aware that for vlogging purposes, filming was almost mandatory at most given times. One forward, one at face, covered the whole self-filming shenanigans. Who needed a film crew these days?
"So, how we feeling? Val-en-tina, top of North Africa, you gonna shred it, gal?" Zoe exitedly asked, her voice bubbly and almost child-like, hoping even in this cold, she'd get something out of Zoe's stoked comment.

Athena nodded as Mark touched upon Morocco. There was a first time for everything, Athena supposed. At least there was a place to start, that much Athena was grateful for. The American operative sighed and looked over at Mark, knowing what they were going to get themselves into. "When are we heading out?"

---

Valentina had no clue as to how she managed to let Zoe convince her to travel all this way. Though, it wasn't like it was necessarily a bad thing. It was definitely different from the typical winter destinations, but Valentina wasn't complaining. The Colombian had gone to quite a bit of winter destinations, but definitely nothing in this region. Trekking up the mountain, glances were taken at the spanning scenery down below. The most Valentina had heard about Morocco was stuff she'd seen on TV, but television didn't do this wonderful country any sort of justice whatsoever. It was breathtaking, and Valentina was sort of glad that Zoe had brought her along, despite her rather insistent nagging.

The stunt Zoe had in mind definitely added to the incentive for Val to come as well. There was no way she was going to turn down an opportunity to speedride down a Moroccan peak. Valentina had some experience in speedriding, but gaining more experience in it was never going to hurt. It made the long trek upwards all the more worth it, knowing that they were going to descend in style. The French Alps were nice, but the Moroccan Alps definitely gave it a run for its money.

Valentina was sat down in the snow next to Zoe, her own goggles sitting on her forehead as she looked at Zoe's slightly annoying ass. Valentina herself had a couple of GoPros mounted on her. One mounted on her shoulder, one mounted on her chest, and another mounted on her helmet to capture as many angles as she could. She had a channel to run herself, and footage was everything. The girl did roll her eyes as Zoe inquired about their future endeavors downhill. "I dunno... not if you keep asking me like that." Valentina laughed, shaking her head.

Zoe chuckled, shrugging as she pulled the canopy taut, pulling her pink-tinted goggles down over her eyes while she did, the wind picking up and fluttering the speedwing a little.
"What, and you think this content is gonna go....downhill?" She said, shrugging her shoulders, rolling her eyes and making it almost seem like you could see through her heavily tinted goggles, her French soft and squeaky accent giving her a certain flair, as she knew that while Valentina was very blunt at times, she was a fun companion when you begun to really explore the madness that was a mountain environment.

Picking herself up proper, Zoe adjusted her ski bindings, flicking them taut and took a deep breath, looking across to Val with a giggling grin, just ready for whatever this is.
"Tell you what....race you to the bottom?" She asked, Zoe pulling the canopy tight as it inflated and begun to pick up much more air, pulling her along now, yelling back knowing she'd already gotten moving.

"You haven't got a choice in the matter, dear!" Zoe added, chuckling as she grabbed the toggles and with a swift turn, kicked up a bank of snow, leaping forward onto the powdery piste, the yellow canopy taking her aloft over a small berm, before bringing her back down with a spray of snow behind. A few big gaps were coming up, as Zoe put her foot down, storming down the mountainside, clearing the first huge crevasse with a gentle pull on the toggles, effortlessly coming away from the mountain and giving her the opportunity to spiral the canopy, going into a full barrel roll and back down into the snow below, whooping as she did. No doubt, the footage coming from this was gonna be next level- just what the Swiss girl wanted.

Valentina shook her head as Zoe made the rather easy pun. She wasn't going to justify that with an answer. The Colombian was starting to remember why she couldn't hang around Zoe for rather extended amounts of time. She may have been very creative with her videos and always seemed to have the greatest ideas when it came to stunts, but golly if she didn't come across as too much for Valentina sometimes. But, Valentina also wasn't one to ever back down from a challenge, especially when it came from Zoe. Something about Zoe made it very hard for her to say no to, as annoying as she was sometimes.

"Yeah... sure." Valentina sighed, adjusting her goggles as watched Zoe turn around and set off. As much as Valentina didn't want to admit it, Zoe was right. Whether she liked it or not, Valentina was going to be racing Zoe down. Making sure her cameras were on, Valentina started rolling down the hill, quickly picking up speed as her skis met the ground, and gravity took effect on a mass flying down a slope. She had purposefully given Zoe a bit of a lead, so that she wouldn't be tasting her snow whenever she caught up to her. She knew that she was going to pick up enough speed at some point to quickly close the gap between her and Zoe.

Seeing a trail of snow being kicked up in the distance in front of her, she knew that was nobody other than Zoe. There was no way that wasn't Zoe. Scanning around for an alternate path, Valentina found a path she could take to her left. Though, based on her rather quick judgment and assessment of the path, it seemed like it was a bit more vertical than Zoe's path. That wasn't much of an issue though. Valentina diverted left, taking the slightly more hilly path as she picked up even more speed, her toggles ready to be deployed as she came up across a rather huge jump. Pulling on the toggles, Valentina used the air she caught and turned it into a soaring opportunity, clearing a giant crevasse down below. She looked to her side, to find that she was alongside Zoe. Valentina took a moment to raise a middle finger to Zoe, before turning in front of her to brace for landing.