The Syndicate

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get this game off the ground tonight.

Host slank

Sign-Ups for this game have filled up. I will try to send out roles tomorrow night, but the game will not be able to start until Tuesday, October 6th around 9:00 p.m. EST.

Tomorrow I have some work to do from home, and Monday is my daughter's birthday. Unless one of the folks voting 'yes' in the poll backs out, this game will go live on Tuesday.

[mention]DrWilgy[/mention]
[mention]NANOOKTHEGREATANDFEARSOME[/mention]
[mention]TonyStarkPrime[/mention]
[mention]Long Con[/mention]
[mention]dunya[/mention]
[mention]tutuu[/mention]
[mention]Michelle[/mention]
[mention]112[/mention]
[mention]TripleHaven[/mention]
[mention]Hally[/mention]
[mention]Poison Chan[/mention]
[mention]Arete[/mention]
[mention]Vulgard[/mention]
[mention]tedxtr[/mention]
[mention]Ash Lael[/mention]
[mention]sabie12[/mention]

When Yuri walked into the poorly lit warehouse room, everyone hushed up. He looked around the room and pondered the scope of what he was about to attempt. But it was worth a shot.

All eyes were fixed on Yuri, and he took time to look at each pair. Escapees from political prisons, anti-Putin journalists, activists, and doctors who had seen colleagues silenced for speaking out about Russia’s struggle to contain the Coronavirus. Yes, their stories all needed to be heard by the world.

“Good evening, Yuri said to the group. “Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding. I am speaking English so the man and woman I bring in next will understand what we are saying. Many of you have been in hiding through my network of safe houses for a few weeks, but these two have been hiding and planning with me for over two months now.

“What we are about to embark on is both very risky and very necessary. You have information to share that will shake the Russian government. Our friends here have information that will shake the American government, if not the entire world.

“And now,” Yuri said, opening the door to the next room, “I’d like you to meet our American friends.”

The door opened and Chelsea Clinton entered, followed by Sidney Blumenthal. A few gasps emerged from the group. Despite her hair being dyed a different color, Chelsea’s face was still recognizable to some. No one recognized Sidney, which was just how he preferred it.

“Good evening,” Sidney said. “My name is Sidney, and this, as some of you have realized, is Chelsea. The world thinks we’re dead or in hiding. The people who made the world think that will stop at nothing prevent us from resurfacing.

“Through my connections, and with Yuri’s help, we can escape from Russia together. The journey will be dangerous and tiring at times. If any of us are caught, we will be executed on the spot at best and tortured for information at worst.

“Yuri has selected you all as the most compelling stories in his network of freedom fighters and truth defenders. If we are successful in escaping, our combined stories will lead to global upheaval. There is no turning back from this point. If you are not prepared to die in order to find freedom and share your stories with the world, then leave now.”

Silence descended upon the room. The seriousness sank in and a few heavy sighs were expelled. Eyes glanced around the room, but nobody moved.

“Good,” Chelsea said. “We were prepared to kill anyone who left. That's how serious we are about this. From here on out, you are all committed to the plan. We're stuck with you and you're stuck with us.

"Tomorrow morning, we're going to board a freight train out of Kirov for Nizhny Novgorod. That journey should take about a day as slow as these freight trains travel. From Nizhny, we'll connect with another freight train heading to Moscow."

"Moscow?" someone exclaimed. "Why are we heading into the heart of the Russian government if we're trying to escape?"

"Because," Chelsea replied, "if they're looking for any or all of us, then Moscow is the last place they'd expect us to travel through on our way out."

No one challenged her.

"Now then," she continued, "Nizhny to Moscow is just under another day. From Moscow, we ride about two days to the outskirts of St. Petersburg, where we'll jump the train and either find transit or hike 100 miles to the Narva Reservoir. Sidney's associates will have someone there waiting to meet us.

"After crossing the reservoir and into Estonia, we'll spend two days at a safe house in Tallinn while fake documents are created for us. From Tallinn, we'll take a ferry to Helsinki, Finland. Once we're in Finland, we'll be free to go our separate ways. Sidney's associates will work out those details with us during our layover in Tallinn as well. Both Yuri and Sidney's contacts agree that you are all worth these extraordinary efforts, or we wouldn't be bringing you on board with our plan. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands, but you could tell that they were all deep in thought. After the hell each of them had been through just to reach Yuri's network, it was worth trying to make an end run around Putin's headquarters to find freedom. Everyone nodded in agreement. Yuri smiled.

"Then it is settled," Yuri said. "Tomorrow morning, you all move on. Sleep well. It will be an early start."

While Yuri was talking to the rest of the group about what to pack for the journey, Sidney and Chelsea slipped out the door they had entered earlier and made their way back to their safe house, away from the rest of their soon-to-be travel companions.

I’ll work up my last pregame post tonight. Busy birthday weekend ahead, so the game might not start until Sunday or Monday night if it fills up.

After just two weeks of sneaking around the shadows of whatever city they were in, Sidney Blumenthal had sorted out the timing of both the freight and passenger rail lines. As the last of the sun's waning light left the horizon, he and Chelsea Clinton prepared for the next leg in their journey home. They packed up what few supplies they had acquired and left the abandoned warehouse they had called home behind.

After walking a few blocks up and several over, the duo cut down an alley. The lights of the rail hub were close now. A noise from behind froze both of them in their tracks. They scanned the area for five minutes without moving. Nothing stirred, but they knew to be hyper-vigilant the rest of the way.

Crouching low in some bushes, they found the chain-link fence separating them from their ride out of town. Sidney found a post and they carefully worked a corner loose. They gingerly peeled the fencing back. Sidney was holding it for Chelsea to slip through when a quiet but stern voice pierced the air.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a man's voice said. The words were in English, but the accent was all Russian.

Sidney raised his head, as if to signify to this person that he was admitting capture. He couldn't release the fence and grab his pistol fast enough to get them out of this jam.

"Let the fence down quietly and face the fence," the voice ordered.

So this was it. After all the hell they'd been through and the hard work to reach this point, they'd be executed from behind and left to rot under a bush. Chelsea seethed as she put her hands up, peered through the fence, and waited for everything to go black.

But it didn't. At least, not for them.

After a few minutes that seemed more like an eternity, Sidney and Chelsea's attention were drawn further down the fence. Several people slipped through a similar space and were making their way to the rail yard when a spotlight kicked on and exposed them. Coarse Russian barked orders at them through a megaphone, while others swooped in with assault rifles trained on the unfortunate souls. They were clubbed, yanked around, and dragged to a nearby vehicle. It sped off with lights flashing and sirens wailing.

"If you think you know the timing of the trains," the voice said from behind Sidney and Chelsea, "then they know when and where to look for you. You may turn around now."

"Who are you?" Sidney asked.

"My name is Yuri," the man said. "I help people like you get out of places like this."

"People like us?" Sidney asked.

"People who wish to escape Putin's empire in the making. People who are unable to do so in the daylight. Come, you are hardly the first to make their way here seeking a way out. I don't normally encounter Americans though. Come with me and I can help you get wherever you are heading."

"Why should we trust you?" Sidney asked.

"Because I would have let the guard sneaking up on you finish the job if I weren't on your side in some way." He motioned behind him. Sure enough, a black-clad officer was face-down in the dirt, blood pooled from his throat.

"I'm sold," Chelsea said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

I’d like this game to be over before Election Day if possible. We’re at the halfway point. I’ll try to work up another pre-game post tonight.

If adjusting from the fake New York time to real Russian time didn't kill them, the bitter cold just might. Mid-March in whatever godforsaken part of Russia Sidney Blumenthal and Chelsea Clinton were traveling through was inhospitable. They were going to need food and warmer clothing in rapid succession.

Chelsea had slept through most of the journey. She didn't miss much. Under other circumstances, Sidney would have found the scenery beautiful, albeit nondescript. But he was too busy watching the skies for helicopters and the horizon for military vehicles to take in the beauty of Western Russia. He knew Trump's connections would come looking for them. It was only a matter of when and by what means.

Sidney woke his travel companion and began to talk strategy.

"We're coming up on what looks to be a decent-sized city," he said. The sun was setting and they could see a substantial amount of light pollution rising up into the sky on the horizon.

"Are we going to wait until we're in the city itself before we get off?" Chelsea asked.

"I think that's our best plan," Sidney replied. "If we ditch our ride too soon, we might freeze to death before we reach the city limits and find anything to help us out."

"We can't get too far into the city though," Chelsea cautioned. "Transit hubs will be the first place they look for us once they piece together all of our escape routes."

"You're exactly right. I think we can press our luck though and time a jump a little inside the city."

"Where will we spend the night?"

"If we're heading into a typical Russian agricultural/industrial city, then there should be plenty of abandoned building for us to take refuge in. Finding food and clothing may require a little extra creativity, but we've gotten this far out of sheer will. We can push through it."

"Sidney," Chelsea said, starring at the horizon, "I'm scared."

"Me too, kid."

tutuu wrote: ↑Fri Aug 21, 2020 12:12 am is it possible that there is 3p in your setup or nah?

Of course it’s possible, but it’s closed setup, so I shall not say one way or the other.

This closed setup game is for 15 players. As a Heist, there are only three power roles in the game. I will be using the following standard G-Man Game matrix:
Gameplay
1. Days are 48 hours long. I will do everything in my power to keep poll deadlines consistent.
2. Nights are 24 hours long. Getting night PMs in to the host in a timely fashion helps to keep things moving.
3. Only those players who have BTSC may communicate with each other outside of the game thread but ONLY in designated BTSC threads or chat rooms. For everyone else, no game-related discussion is permitted outside the game thread.
4. Votes in the poll are the only votes that count. It's helpful but not mandatory that you declare your vote in the thread in a way that stands out to the host.
5. All votes are changeable all the way up to the deadline.
6. A tied day poll will result in no death. Votes matter. There will be no coin flips to determine poll results.
7. Standard alignment wincons are in effect unless otherwise stated.
8. Dead is dead; you don't get to come back from that. Dead players will have their BTSC rights removed.
9. Roles will be revealed upon death.
10. Additional gameplay elements will be added/revealed on an as-needed basis.
11. I will probably end phases between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. EST for this game. Any earlier is a challenge for me with getting the kids to bed.


Rules
1) Respect your fellow players, your host, and your Facilitator.
1a) Don't be an asshat.
1b) Don't get butthurt.
2) If you feel like another player is out of line or making/taking things personal/ly, contact the Facilitator, ???.
3) No BTSC regarding the game outside of the game thread(s). Players are told in their rolecard if they have BTSC. If you don't have it, don't engage in it. Violating this rule will result in a modkill.
4) No editing or deleting posts.
5) Self-voting is prohibited.
6) Double-targeting is prohibited.
7) Info-dumping and/or power-role-claiming is forbidden. Don't break games, build cases.
8) Off-topic posts should be in OT Green.
9) Dead players are to post in Dead Red.
10) Non-Players should post in Non-Player Blue.
11) This is the host's color. Do not post in this color.
12) Participation is polite to everyone involved. If I feel you may not be paying attention to the game, I will reach out to you. Replacements and modkills may be employed if necessary. If you sign up, please play. If you can't play, request replacement.
13) Additional rules will be added/revealed on an as-needed basis.


Backstory
Here is a link to first post of Escape From Trump Tower. In that post, you will find links to the host posts for the first two game in this series, Red vs. Blue and Blue vs. Red, as well as the links to host post pre-game content for Escape From Trump Tower.

Reading all this content is not essential, but glossing over some of it will help you understand the alternate history in which these games take place, and the major players within it. As always, pre-game posts are under construction to segue from the last game to this one. Stay tuned.

If you really want the CliffsNotes version of the backstory open the spoiler tag below.


Players

Yes
1-Nanook
2-Tony
3-DrWilgy
4-Long Con
5-tutuu
6-112
7-dunya
8-Michelle
9-TripleHaven
10-Poison Chan
11-Thunal33
12-Hally
13-tedextr

No
-G-Man (duh)
-MacDougall
-Alison
Justplayingitcool

Maybe
-sprityo
-Epignosis
-Scirrus
-Glorfindel