xp_logs | Mission Flesh Mechanic: Lubyanka

Remy and Betsy travel to Moscow to meet one of her old contacts and listen to an offer.

"Never expected to be invited into dis place." Remy muttered as both he and Betsy followed along behind the uniformed sargeant who had picked them up at their hotel. They were walking through the doors of the All-Russia Insurance company building, better known to the world as 'Lubyanka', the feared headquarters of the former KGB. Now it held the officers of the Russia Federation Border and more importantly, some subagencies of the 'Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie', the Russian GRU. The GRU had taken over as the primary vehicle for intelligence and covert operations for the state after the dissolution of the KGB following their support of the failed 1991 coup. As a former assassin for the US government, the only reason Remy could have considered walking through
these doors was as a prisoner.

Betsy's call to join her in Moscow had been a complete surprise, and the reason she'd given him moreso. He didn't want to know how Betsy had connections with the rump of the GRU, which still had oversight on the SVR and the FSB. But the possibilities were too good to pass up. "Who
are we meeting again? Vassily or something?"

"No, Vazhin. Alexi Vazhin. He's old time intelligence when there was such a thing as Yugoslavia and the Czeck Republic was merely a wet dream.". Betsy continued walking down the main hallway and turned a corner, moving deeper into the veritable fortress with simply a curious glance from security.

Stopping at two doors, Betsy tapped the button entrenched in the marble wall, calling the lift back down. She spared a glance at Remy before looking forward again. She smirked. "You seem off.... You sure you're up for this?"

"I spent fifteen years killing around Europe for de CIA. Dat included de fair share of ex-Soviets. Let's just say dis isn't far off of walking into a room wit' Lorna and 'donna together in terms of nightmares, neh?" Remy smirked. "You know, dis is something dat we should focus on a little more. We still need to re-establish and align a lot of our networks. Maybe one of us takes a couple of months in Europe, does some spade work for it?"

"You know that out of the three of us, I have the better contacts.". She shook her head at him, "if I didn't know better I'd think you were working to give me the boot."

"See, if you'd put out now and again, I might not want dat." Remy said flippently. The fact was that Betsy had been under her game for a while. The drinking was symptomatic of larger issues, and what she needed was a break for a little bit, with something she could focus on solely. He understood her a lot better than even she would want to admit. They shared damage, and that made an uncomfortable closeness between their personalities. "Seriously though, we got all of dat EOE
stuff from Pete we haven't touched, both of our contacts are starting to waver, and between getting de team spun up and dealing wit' all de various crisis, we're falling behind."

"You've made your point." Betsy replied coolly. The lift doors opened and they entered. "I'll take my leave when we get back. But before I do, there are a few things of a personal nature I'll need to handle." She kept her gaze rooted on the ground. The lift took them upwards several levels before indicating they'd reached their floor with a peppy ring. "Come on, then."

Remy avoided sighing. Betsy had been violatile of late, for reasons she didn't see fit to pass along. It wasn't as if he and Wisdom were any more stable, but the team needed them all to get past it. Best if she had something that they needed being done at the same time. Besides, it was best to keep Wisdom out of England right now.

They stopped at a fairly plain door, and an aide opened it for them. Inside was a small office, files stacked neatly on both sides of the desk, and the walls covered in large maps marked with coloured pen.

"Yelizaveta!" The man behind the desk said expansively. He looked like a healthy sixty, his hair still mostly dark and deep lines in his face. One side of his square glasses was covered with black, in place of a normal patch, and thready white scars on his brow and cheek spoke of the injury that must have taken the eye.

"Alexi Nikolay'ch," Betsy said with a bright smile. Her dark demeanor evaporating. She reached up and braced herself as large arms encased her in one ferocious hug. "It's good to see you again," she said into his shoulder. When he released her, she motioned to her right. "This
is....my associate, Mr. LeBeau."

"Associate is a flexible word, Mr. LeBeau." Alexi said wryly, taking Remy's hand. He waved them to a pair of chairs. "Please, sit, both of you. My aide will be here in a moment. I assume you remember Natasha Romanova, Yelizaveta?"

"Indeed, I do." Betsy said with a less than stellar enthusiasm as she took her seat. "I would've thought she'd've moved on by now. Or at least hoped." She muttered the last to herself.

"The SVR keeps making noises, but Natasha prefers her work in the field under my direction." Vazhin said.

"Your direction? I thought dat de GRU was basically down to oversight of de FSB and SVR. You're running active operations?" Remy pointed out. The GRU was 'officially' broken into two different agencies, the FSB that covered State security, and the SVR which covered intelligence outside of the country.

"A popular misconception. The GRU still controls the oversight for both agencies, and we still take an... active interest in areas where either agency isn't prepared to go. Both have corruption issues, and the most sensitive operations need guaranteed secrecy."

"Which leads us to the case at hand which requires both secrecy, daring, and our help." Betsy commented idly as the doors to the office opened a tall beautiful red head walked into the room. "So good of you to join us, Natasha," Betsy said without turning around, her hands crossed tightly over her lap.

"Yelizaveta," The woman said, coming into the room and taking a seat. "I advised the Colonal that this was a mistake. Unfortunately, he chose not to accept my advice." Her eyes turned to Remy, giving him a frank appraisal. He ignored it. Remy had been eyeballed by the best, and it took more than her to intimidate him.

"So why are we here?"

"Our sources tell us Yelizaveta has been reactivating old networks here in Europe. Now, why would the new head of an American think tank be activating intelligence networks unless of course, she was still operating her old craft at the same time?" Vazhin smiled. "We know that you were associated with a mutant strike force, Yelizaveta, and an operative as good as you simply doesn't walk away from those connections. I have a problem of my own that needs such an outside agency, know and answering only to myself. In return for your help, I can offer you a certain level of assistance from the intelligence agencies of the Russian Federation."

Both Betsy and Remy exchanged a glance, and she nodded. Vazhin smiled and pulled out a pair of folders. "Excellent. Here are the details..."