D&A Session 13 - Ultimo Argomento di Leoni

*If you can tie up all of your loose ends* and *bring the house down, seek to do both; when hunting birds, shoot to kill...*

## Table Members

* ForteNoir as the MC
* Kixandra as Akamai Reyes
* Elgar as Antonio Cervantes
* RedAngelAlnet as CINO Ketaminé
* SquashDemon as Doug Landry

## Session Summary

Some time after the events in the United States, an unannounced pair of guests arrives on the Hraesvalgr's flight deck; Dominic Medicci and Dierdre Dux. Dierdre has made a dramatic recovery from her vegetative state with Djeeta's assistance and supervision, and is now Dom's ward as the situation in Sicily and beyond has become hostile. From the Hraesvalgr's brig, Dom propositions Los Langaros with a job from Don Bonanno; capture or kill the traitorous engineer Alphonso Boiardi. The European crimelord known simply as 'the Frenchman' has co-opted large swaths of La Cosa Nostra, and has taken Boiardi into his cabal as his primary weapons developer. The Don, recognizing the team as Joseph Dux's friends, wishes to prevent separatist elements from gaining the fighting strength to destroy the old families.

Boiardi is ordinarily hard to pin down, but Dom is betting that he'll be in the Principality of Monaco over the following weekend in order to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. The team dispatches to the Mediterranean as Dom and Dierdre hightail it to parts unknown. In Monaco, the crowds are ever-present and so are the gendarmes. There are no Armor Frames in the vicinity; likewise Dierdre has made it painfully clear that she'd prefer that their presence be 100% antiseptic and to harm none of the city's historical buildings. Dom instructs the team to watch out for Boiardi's bookie and bodyguard: Leonardo Rossi and Lorenzo di Pastor.

CINO and Landry take a moment to peruse the city streets, staking out and walking the cordoned-off sections that the Grand Prix will use in just two days' time. Knight establishes Mesh overwatch across the city's large volume of CCTV cameras, but is unable to pin down any of the opposition. Tony takes Knight to the Casino de Monte Carlo, where the rich and famous are gathered to place their bets on the outcome of the race and to take in some fine dining and gambling. Tony learns about Boiardi's nightly flirtatious adventures at the Blackjack tables and comes up with a rudimentary plan. Before sampling the cocktail menu, Knight establishes a backdoor in their local Mesh hub. Prompted to try and find their target at tourist destinations that may be of interest to Boiardi, CINO and Landry find themselves at the Prince's automotive collection, the Monaco Top Cars Collection. Though they manage to spot Leonardo Rossi, they are caught unawares by the Frenchman, who is none other than Cardinal. With some taunts and a warning, he leaves the pair with the understanding that they have been made, and that he will be watching. Gathering back at their lodging, the team decides on a plan to both capture Boiardi and thwart Cardinal at the same time.

At nightfall, CINO and Tony back to the casino to infiltrate the floor and take Boiardi in disguise. Having already discovered the casino's emergency escape tunnels, CINO secures their route of egress and stakes out the casino's kitchen dressed as a somelier. After a few drinks, Tony is able to distract and entice Boiardi long enough to smuggle him into the wine cellar, where CINO takes down a lurking di Pastor and successfully captures Boiardi. Not long after, Cardinal's latest AF arrives over the city to issue its challenge. Knight manages to defeat it, but the team is contacted immediately with an ultimatum: bring Boiardi back to a specific set of coordinates over Spain, or Cardinal will attack Monaco and set up the Chrome Road to take the blame.

Landry, however, takes record of the conversation and prepares a counternarrative that he broadcasts across the city, warning the populace that a terrorist attack is likely to strike Monaco at sunrise. Having already handed off Boiardi to local mob capos, Los Langaros opts to divide the team's efforts to cover both problems. CINO and Landry stay behind in Monaco to defend the city in the event of an attack, and Knight and Tony jet off to Spain. Cardinal's coordinates lead to the abandoned WWIII-era airbase east of Tarifa, the site of the team's first mission together. Knight infiltrates through their sewers and water treatment facilities, and discovers that the site has been rebuilt and is now home to Boiardi's production floor. He sabotages the machines currently under construction, but triggers the base's self destruct. During their retreat, Tony and Knight receive an urgent call from Dom: Their Sicilian compound is under attack and they cannot hold out much longer.

Back in Monaco, Cardinal delivers on his threat when an eight-strong line of captured Chrome Road AFs arrive over the eastern coastline and begin to bombard the city. Rolling out in the Red Mask and Alistair II, the pair make a good effort to minimize the damage, but receive assistance from an unlikely ally. Eagle erupts onto the scene and uses his machine's strange technology to annihilate the remaining enemy drones, and declares his informal parting from the Aviary. Having become frustrated with their benefactors unwillingness to rope in Cardinal, which enabled his boldness in attacking an unarmed civilian population, Eagle unmasks in front of CINO and Landry and leaves to 'go home'.

In Sicily, Knight and Tony find a small force of Boiardi's machines being led by Cardinal, who is there in person to dole out punishment to Don Bonanno. Tony takes some of the offensive pressure off Dom, and Knight assaults Cardinal to dispense justice. The fight is long and grueling, and Knight and Cardinal's machines are destroyed as a result. Having been saved by his auto-eject, a battered and bruised Knight finds Cardinal unable to escape, and executes him personally before succumbing to his injuries.

In the aftermath, Dierdre and the Don give their personal thanks. Dom steals the least-damaged among the invading machines for his own purposes, and takes Dierdre along to parts unknown. Knight is taken to recover in the Hraesvalger's medical wing, where OMER watches over him until he regains consciousness.

A few days later, CINO takes time to inspect and service the Red Mask in the Hraesvalgr's hangar. Seemingly out of nowhere, the fortress is attacked. Out in the dusk, flanked by other silhouettes in the sky, is a bright silver Armor Frame leading the assault...