Chapter 3: Russian In

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Okay, let's see. You guys know all the content disclaimers, right? Good. I'm not writing all that out again.

Oh, and Sly Cooper belongs to Sucker Punch. Don't sue me.

Uh, for those of you wondering; this chapter is basically Phase One of the first episode, or as I like to call it, the Recon Phase. Phases Two and Three, Preparation and Action, will get their own chapters, followed by a chapter for the Operation and one for the Boss Battle, followed by the Escape. Six chapters in total, and that's going to be a pattern for most of the Steele Ring members.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's get going.

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Roughly six thousand three hundred kilometers. The van was holding up nicely even after a drive like that, as the gang took a road trip to the Russian wilderness. They had spent the last week unwinding in London, where the gang had had to talk their resident thief out of breaking into the Tower of London just for the hell of it, and Rick had

"Russia, huh? Who's the first guy on our checklist?" List asked, prompting a grin from Abby. "I think you'll like this job on principal alone. Behold, Bol Gora." she told him, turning her laptop to face the thief. The image on-screen had been of a bear that made even Rick look like a weakling, a dangerous glint in his eyes betraying the fact that this monster of a man was no dumb brute. Wearing a red suit, he looked like he was more than capable of snapping people in half with his individual fingers.

"It's rough Russian for 'Pain Mountain', and this guy definitely lives up to the name. Rumor is that he's survived being shot almost forty times, and most of those times he just turned around and killed the shooter with a single punch. Not only that, but according to Interpol, he's actually hiding the biggest gun running operation in the world in gun shops. Subtlety is not in his vocabulary. When he's not killing people with his bare hands - no pun intended - he delights in weapons of all varieties, from antiquated axes to ultra-modern machine guns. He's a crackshot with just about any gun you'd care to name, and an expert in using just about any melee weapon under the sun, though sources say his general strategy when unarmed is to punch vaguely at his opponent. Oh, and he never goes anywhere without at least two weapons on him. Guy's a monster, but if it comes down to a fight, his weakness is his lack of subtlety; he'll probably telegraph his attacks like crazy, and he won't be great at seeing through our trickiest fighter."

List grinned. "Don't worry. He's big, but that just means he'll fall hard."

"Indeed. Now, the safe house has been set up ahead of time, but it won't look like much from the outside. I'm relying on the almost perpetual blizzard that stays in this area to keep us hidden from prying eyes. Once we're in the safe house, List, I need you to take some recon photos of the operation."

"What's a gun dealer doing way out in the wild like this, though?" Rick asked, looking thoughtful.

"Good question, Rick. I did some digging, and it looks like Bol Gora inherited this land from his parents. Turns out he did some extensive remodeling, and most of his illegal operations are run from and through here. Makes things less complicated, I suppose, when you're using a patch of land in the middle of nowhere as your personal criminal airport. Even better, he seems to hold a sentimental attachment to the old manor on property. That's where he keeps the loot he 'acquires' through his various schemes." Abby answered, grinning again.

"Hey, I think we're here!"

As Rick eased the van into the small cavern under the safe house, Abby brought her equipment upstairs with List's help. It took them a couple of minutes to set everything up, but it wasn't long before they had turned an abandoned shack half-buried under ice and snow into their very own, very cozy, safe house.

"Alright, List. Head for the waypoint. I'll just boot up my computer." Abby said, knowing the thief was already halfway out the door. Beginning to type into her computer, she grinned as she found that even out here in the middle of nowhere, she could get a decent signal. Thank goodness for satellite technology.

It wasn't long before List reached the complex they were here to cripple; an organized campus that resembled an Air Force base above all else. A grin on his face, he snuck in under the heavy snows, noting a ski lift near the edge of the complex. That was where the waypoint was, so that was where he headed.

"Alright, List. I need pictures of the guards, the runway, and their warehouse. Take a photo of that ski lift too, it's the only reliable way up to Bol Gora's manor." Abby instructed, pleased to find photographs of such uploading to her computer almost as soon as she requested them. The guards were clearly well-equipped, but appeared relaxed and lazy; foxes and hares armed with up-to-date but poorly maintained firearms, mostly, with a few large wolves scattered around looking tough. The runway was clearly well-used, being almost entirely free of snow, and the ski life less used but still mostly clean. The warehouse had several key structures which Abby quickly filed away for later analysis; busting into that place would be critical to stopping weapon shipments through here.

Grinning, she watched as List's Binocu-com beacon placed him moving up the ski line. She knew that the half-coon would never use the actual lifts, and that he was carefully picking his way up the cable itself.

List, meanwhile, hopped off of the cable, landing in the snow without so much as a crunch. Carefully surveying the area, he crept up towards the old rustic manor at the top of the lift. It was an impressive building despite its age; enormous, four stories tall and as big as a conventional mall. He also noted a pillar of ice off to the side of the building, with something atop.

"Okay. See if you can find a good vantage point into the main hall. I need a picture of Bol Gora; I want to see what he's got on him, so we can neutralize it later. I also need a picture of his personal vault, and whatever goodies he's got on display; I want to know how much we're going to need to pack for the return trip. Finally, he supposedly has a helipad on or near the building in case he needs to make a quick escape. Find it and take a picture; we need to get rid of that chopper if we want to make sure he doesn't slip through our fingers." Abby instructed the resident thief, pleased to find that the pictures were coming in almost as soon as she spoke. She noted a shotgun and flamethrower on Bol Gora's person, plus plenty of ammo; maybe List could rob him of his much-needed munitions before throwing down for real. His main hall was full of artifacts of difficult-to-compute value, making her rub her hands together in glee; this heist would go down in Cooper history for the sheer loot value of it. The safe looked simple enough, but big; they might have to leave some stuff behind, but that was no issue with the artifacts on display. The helipad picture took a little longer to get, but Abby was overjoyed with it; List had found the perfect angle. She could clearly see the helicopter on the pad, and grinned; it was a gunship well known for its heavy-duty miniguns, but with a little ingenuity and a good shot she knew she could blow the whole damn thing up by igniting the ammo cache.

As she sifted through each photo, searching them for further information, she realized that List had taken one extra photograph, which was taking a little longer to upload. Curious, she scrolled down to it, letting it load in full, before her eyes widened. "No, no, no, no…" she whimpered, as List's beacon showed him running back to base at full sprint.

The photograph was of a person wearing a heavy jacket in winter camo over a thick white shirt and pants, as well as a pair of white hiking boots. Frankly, if it weren't for the red glint at their waist and the way List had just managed to get their face in the shot, they'd be nigh invisible.

List walked in through the door, looking confused but pleased. "What are the odds, huh? On the bright side, she's probably just here to gather evidence against Bol Gora. It does explain why she had the file to begin with, though." he remarked, leaning on his cane.

"The odds are thousands to one, this op just got a whole lot less fun." Abby sighed, both annoyed and terrified to see that Constable Alayna Marais was in the area.

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Yeah. That, uh, happened. Anyways. Alayna won't come into play properly until Phase Three, or 'Action'. I will say that she's going to be promoted to Inspector once this particular heist is complete. I will also say that Abby had something wrong in her analysis, but that won't come into play for a while yet.

Sorry for a non-exciting chapter. But Recon's gotta take place some time, and I figured you all would at least like to know why people are being punched in the face. To that end, this. Next time, let's see how the Cooper Gang begins their own missions in the area, huh? It's a short chapter, I know, but hey, it went up quick, didn't it? Please don't expect a chapter a day; I don't have a buffer and I post when I think a chapter is ready. This was a short one so I could hammer it out pretty fast, and I was already working on Chapter 2 when Chapter 1 went up. I do try to get these up fast, though.

Review if you want to point something out, like if you liked, follow if you want to see what happens next.

KeyFire. Peace!

Looks like Interpol's begun to act on their knowledge of the Steele Ring. Constable Alayna's presence complicates matters immensely, but something tells me that Abigail already has their next steps laid out. Find out what happens next time, in Chapter 4: Snow Way!