Operation Jules
In the Beginning...
So I moved this section, because I needed a holding place for everything related to the Giovanni. Operation Jules; because, well, he's the first guy I can think of off the top of my head who's relatively badass and has that whole "Not a nice guy but doing good deeds" vibe.
Also, Ezekiel 25:17. I suppose for this venture, something out of Revelations would be more appropriate, but we're not exactly riding with the angels as a rule.
Assets - Me, Brenda, Cass, Tina, Andre, and Saturn. A little favor from the king of Rio. An insane amount of money, and the ability to make more. Secrecy. They don't know that we're temporal anomalies. (Seriously, Time travelers just sounds weird and Back to the Future-ey.) Potential Assets - Any non-Giovanni necromancer. We'll have to tread very carefully on this one, as their entire plan is a necromantic ritual.
Liabilities - Clan Giovanni. All of them. Including the guy who's staying in the place across the street. Once they found out how much we know, an entire frickin' clan is gonna come crashing down on our asses. We'll need to hedge against that.
Action plan step one. Build allies. Make friends. Quite honestly, this is going to be selling out. Start with other necromancers - frankly, I think that's going to be Brenda's gig. She speaks their language, and she can point them at places where they can do their own investigation and independently confirm. Liabilities with step one are as always the Giovanni. Necromancy and money are their wheelhouse. They've got several millennia of experience on their side.
Okay, before I go too far down that depressing road, I still know their Dirty Little Secret. Lightbulb. What if they've purposefully let their whole rep slip as a way to get everyone to look the other way? Misdirection, the illusionists' best friend. Look at this hand with two fingers in my cousin, don't look at the other hand that's collecting souls for a hearty return to the 12th century. Maybe if we convince people to look at what the other hand is doing, they'll realize the first hand was holding the flash powder. Hell, I've already done it once in New York. The real trick is to scale it up.
Currently there is no step two, as step one is going to keep us busy for at least a decade. The overarching plan is to stall their plan. Keep the ghosts out of their hands. Maybe in a half-century we can liberate some of their stocks.
Questions: How do we track where they're getting their supplies from? How do we keep our knowledge secret? Logistics, supply, demand...Coming up with the code for these answers is going to keep me busy for at least three years. I may have to invent a new language for security purposes.
Upon reflection, it may not be that difficult. I just have to think of the souls as a commodity item like the Giovanni do - something to be traded, stored, and held on to. Mostly stored, lik the XP from my breathing nights D&D sessions. 1.25 million xp, and I can get to level 50. A hundred million souls (give or take 5%), and the Giovanni unleash unholy hell on earth. Literally.
To defeat my enemy, I must think like my enemy. To think like my enemy, I must become my enemy. That's where Brenda comes in. She's sufficiently Wednesday enough that I can focus on the other parts, like the commoditization of souls and the necessary logistics.
Still, thinking positive. Rio is an outstanding staging base for any future plans. Politically, it's neutral, which means I can pretty much access territories as needed. The first question that needs to be answered really is where the Giovanni store their valuables. Obviously a safe. But where's the safe? Question For Brenda. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can work on taking them down financially. I mean really it is kinda hard to do things when you're broke. To do all that, I'll need some friends. That may mean going to the guns.
I really, really hate that idea. I thought I was thinking positive here.
2 centuries and counting
With Cagliari, the secrecy portion of the show may in fact be out the door like a fart in a tornado. So now, I face the next step. Building an army, and using it to keep the forces of the Giovanni and the Setites at bay. Everywhere I look, I see enemies. We need friends. Let's not kid ourselves, we got goddamn lucky.
Assets - the coterie. Whatever help we can get from our sires. The fact that I can probably fake it as a Toreador for another century. Technology. Whatever my greedy little mind can invent.
Expendable assets - Baldesar.
Future assets; potential the vampires of Rio. Lasombra, Toreador, and Assamites against the Giovanni and the Setites...that's a fight I might like.
To-do list; build the Harbor. Craft some next-gen weapons for personal defense. Railguns and energy weapons might be our next step.
Planning on the fly
So allies I now have. In spades. Problem is we're going to have to work through cutouts to make the Harbor a thing. Rio's toast for at least a century. We'll save that for retirement - such as it is. Assuming we survive the madness, we'll go play house for a few decades and see what else the world has for us. Meanwhile, we need to relocate. Either Denver, Colorado Springs, or St Louis. They all have their benefits. More later.
